


Natural

by Heterno



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-16
Updated: 2017-03-28
Packaged: 2018-09-17 17:18:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 30,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9334919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heterno/pseuds/Heterno
Summary: Alana had always managed to put up a strong front, whether that was with pain or with relationships, she knew how to block out her feelings for the best of times, but when she meets Margot, will she be able to break through her strong walls and help her feel again?





	1. Entrée

The continuous hum of Alana's car as she travelled down the cobbles of a forested area came surprisingly comforting to her, so the brunette took the time to slow down and observe her natural surroundings. She was always told that this would be a well looked after area, and they weren't kidding, it was all so rich and vibrant, not a single tree looking out of place; and in the true essence of the natural atmosphere, a horse trotted by with a seemingly proud, yet graceful, owner. 

As Alana's car came to a halt, her natural instinct insisted that she followed the owner of the horse towards what seemed to be a stable. The woman opened the door and stepped out of the car, her heel making a slight tap as it hit the ground. She clenched her cane and allowed her second foot to follow, brushing the red coat out of the way as her gloved hand gently closed the door and made her way over to the stables. Not only was this place beautiful, it was big. A slight fear of the lurking unknown nagged at her as she neared the entrance, her lightly curled hair bouncing with each step. 

To take her mind off of the fear of what she couldn't see, Alana focused on what she could see. The horse rider was now stroking the noses of a few horses delicately and seemed oblivious to Alana's approach until she was practically in the stables. Alana glanced down at the ground and when her head rose again, she was met with piercing green eyes and a fixed smirk, plaited hair which seemed not to have been affected by the horse ride that she had assumingly just been on .  
"I'm Dr Bloom" Alana uttered, tearing her eyes away from the woman's coat.  
"The new psychiatrist," her eyes trailed up and down Alana's body, "I'm Margot Verger." she held her hand out for Alana to shake.  
"Relative of my patient?" she asked, taking her hand in return  
"The doting sister." Margot replied

Alana nodded with a small smile dancing on her lips and turned to look around some more. Margot's eyes remained transfixed on her as she tilted her head back and took a look at all of the bales of hay. 

"Big isn't it?" Miss Verger chuckled.

Alana's eyes were torn away from her surroundings at the sound of Margot's voice.

"Extremely." She replied with a smile.

"Excessively." the green eyed woman said with a sigh. 

An expression of confusion washed over Alana's face for a small moment as 'the doting sister' gestured towards the outside of the stables.  
"You never know what is happening when the land is this big."

The psychiatrist thought for a moment, placing her other hand on her cane, balancing herself properly.  
"Not knowing everything isn't always a bad thing."

"I'm sure it isn't," she paused as though she was waiting for a reaction, "What can I say? I'm just nosey." She unclipped her clasp on her helmet and removed it from her head, patting her hair down and holding the headwear between her arm and side. "I'll take you to Mason if you would like?" 

"That would be great, thanks." She let Margot lead the way, tapping her hand on her cane, anxious with anticipation to meet her new patient. 

Although she could hide it well, Alana always focused on making a good first impression on her new patients, it was all to do with building a level trust that would allow them to discuss things with her that they might not have even thought about discussing with even the closest of people. These people were surprisingly rarely family. People worked on maintaining expectations of their parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and as a result, turn to people who do not know their life story, whether that is a distant friend or a complete stranger, they have a chance to start afresh; be their true self, or, in some cases, be somebody else completely. 

However, there are a few exceptions to the rule. The ones who only remove the veil for themselves. They wear a perfectly fitted person-suit and the material is sometimes so tight that they mould themselves into the person that they want people to see them as. This method could be used as a form of manipulation or simply an escape from their own reality. Mental disorders such as schizophrenia and MPD can often develop from this isolation of the patients true self, as though they are trying to escape their own mind.

Mason Verger was most definitely an exception to the rule. 

"I'm surprised at how you could possibly know where your brother was in a place this big." Dr. Bloom's eyebrow burrowed with curiosity.

"Mason keeps himself isolated to a few specific area's, he doesn't do too well with exploration or discovery." Margot replied, keeping her eyes facing forward. 

Alana's steps grew slower as her lower back began to ache due a common symptom of simply too much walking or strain after her accident. 

From the corner of her eye, Miss Verger saw a wince of pain on her face and took care to slow down ahead of her.  
"Maybe if you take a seat, I could just get Mason for you?" she suggested. 

Alana smiled her warm smile and shook her head.  
"I'll be fine, it's just an ache. Please do carry on." 

After a slight hesitation Margot continued to lead Alana towards the balcony, her steps practically came to a halt in order to take caution of Alana's obvious pain.

A few more minutes of walking lead them to their destination and Margot spun to face Alana, rocking back onto her heel. 

"Here we are." she gestured towards the balcony.

A feeling of both relief and anticipation blew over Alana as she smiled and glanced towards the balcony where a figure was sat. 

"Thank you Miss Verger."

"Please, call me Margot. My brother is the formal one, not me." she laughed, looking back down at her helmet. 

Alana paused for a moment, tilting her head, searching for Margot's eyes. 

"Alana." She held out her hand as though they were back at their first meeting. 

Margot looked back up at Alana and shook her hand. 

"Alana," Margot repeated in reply with a soft smile planted on her face, "Well Alana, if you need anything I'll only be in the next room."

Alana gave one last smile before she made her way out onto the balcony, Margot smiling to herself with a small shake of her head and wandered off to the other room to do some light reading.


	2. Âme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long chat with Mason, Alana seems distracted. Margot is determined to find out what her brother had said. 
> 
> I expect this story to go completely off the actual storyline in Hannibal, but some elements will remain the same:)

Margot furrowed her eyebrows in concentration as she turned another page in her book, gently stroking the paper and feeling the fibres brush against her hand. Her plan for light reading had gone out of the window and she had yet become fully submerged in her mystery book. She had been so absorbed that she hadn't heard the distinctive tap of Alana's cane as she stepped into the room through the heavy oak doors and rested her spare hand on the desk. 

"Holmes?" Alana's voice startled the younger woman and her eyes snapped up from the book, slamming it shut. 

"Sorry?" Margot asked, not really sure on what Alana had said and still recovering from the fear she had just experienced. 

"Sherlock Holmes, your book." Alana held out the hand that she wasn't holding her cane in and pointed at Margot's book. 

Margot stroked the front cover and gave a simple nod towards the brunette. 

"I didn't mean to sneak up on you," Alana started, making a slow approach towards where Margot was slouched, "I thought my cane would have announced my arrival." she tapped her cane on the floor twice to emphasise her point. The green eyed woman swung her legs around, her socks gliding across the burgundy leather, sitting herself up straight. 

"Don't worry about it, I sometimes get too absorbed in my reading," she delicately tapped her fingers on the leather bound book and looked back towards the standing figure, "feel free to sit, it isn't like we have a shortage on chairs, Doctor Bloom." Margot gestured around the grand room, chairs and sofas scattered everywhere. 

The psychiatrist nodded in approval, once again absorbing her surroundings and subconsciously choosing an upright, dark chair, not far from where she was stood. Her piercing red, low-cut blouse contrasting nicely with the comfortable back rest. Alana angled herself delicately, crossing her trousered legs and propping her cane against the arm rest, proceeding to rest her head on a single hand sighing slightly. 

Margot had been transfixed on every move the suited lady had made; from the swing of her hips as she approached the chair, right the way up to her head flopping in a defeated manner onto her palm.

"Was he really that bad?" Margot asked with a chuckle, pushing herself up from the sofa and making her way towards the drinks cabinet located just behind where Alana had sat. 

"He's an interesting character." Alana replied, her eyes not following Margot, but instead brushing imaginary dirt from her trouser leg.

Margot continued to pour herself a glass of whiskey, not asking her guest whether she wanted a drink and made her one anyway. She knew that she would certainly have wanted one if she were to spend an hour talking to her brother. She circled around Alana's chair and placed the small tumbler in front of the Doctor's face. 

"What's this for?" Alana asked but held her hand out to take it anyway. 

"It's for spending an hour with the 'interesting character'" Margot replied, smirking. 

A small smile tugged on Alana's lips as she brought the glass up to them and took a small sip, closing her eyes as she swallowed and letting her head drop back. 

"What could he have possibly have said in an hour that has drained you this much?" Margot asked, still stood in front of Alana's petite, sitting figure. 

"Patient confidentiality," Dr Bloom replied, tilting her head at a slight angle and playing with the crystal in her hand. She looked at Margot straight in the eye and laughed "Even applies to the doting Sister." 

"Surely not." Margot made her way back to the sofa and laid elegantly, she had got the impression that Alana was quite laid back, even if she was a psychiatrist. 

Alana swallowed the rest of her drink in one large swig, placing the tumbler down on a small stand next to the chair.

"I'm afraid so." she breathed, sitting herself back up properly now, trying to remove the tightness from her back. 

"Well we are going to have to talk about something," Margot stated, following the psychiatrists actions and sat up, tapping her fingers delicately on the glass that she hadn't yet drank from. "Lets move the conversation onto us," she breathed, "Why do you need a cane?" she gestured towards the long object. 

"To walk." Alana replied sarcastically. 

"Never would have guessed." 

"I was pushed out of a window." she finished, giving no information other than a dramatic event. 

Margot raised an eyebrow, her level of interest suddenly increasing. 

"That's all the information I get? " She asked, leaning forward. 

"I'm sure you can use your skills that Mr. Holmes has so lovingly taught you to decipher how I ended up using a cane after being pushed through a window. " Alana smirked. 

"I need suspects to complete a full case study." Margot said matter-of-factly. 

"A boy, a girl and somebody who pushed me out of a window." she raised her eyebrow. 

"That's a hard one," the tall woman joked. "I'm going to go with the girl."

Alana gave a sweet laugh and opened her mouth to speak again when there was a slight humming noise increasing in volume. Both women looked in the direction of the door, Alana sitting even straighter now and Margot did the same. 

Mason approached the doorway, his wheelchair being the cause of the noise, and came to a sudden halt in front of both Margot and Alana. 

"Oh, Doctor Bloom, it was a lovely conversation I had with you." Mason said ominously. 

Margot's eyes darted to Alana, who now seemed a lot more tense than she was prior Mason's entry. 

"I'm glad." Alana plastered on a fake smile and nodded at Mason. 

"I see you have met my sister, Margot," he wheeled closer to his sister, "I hope she's been polite." 

Margot's eyes had moved to look at her brother, making it Alana's turn to analyse Margot. She leant ever so slightly away from her brother, pulling her book onto her lap. 

"Anyway," he spun his wheelchair around, "I have things to attend to." and with that he left. 

The pair stayed silent for a while before Alana pushed herself up on her cane and straightened her back, causing Margot to make a remark. 

"If you can survive being pushed out of a window, you can survive my brother." 

Alana, amused by her remark, gave a witty response. 

"I expect updates on the case Miss Verger." she started to walk out of the room. 

"Do you want me to take you to where you will be sleeping?" Margot was already pushing herself off of the sofa. 

"I think I will just explore a little first. I'll find my room eventually." she smiled in a grateful manner towards Margot and continued on her way. 

"Goodnight Alana." Margot shouted after her. She heard her footsteps stop along with the tap of her cane, leaving a small pause before her reply. 

"Goodnight Margot." and after a second short pause, the footsteps started again, leaving Margot to return to her book.


	3. cicatrice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mason's plans to capture Hannibal has delved into the mind of Alana, straining her to her limits.

The metallic sound of Mason's voice echoed it's way through the house like a ghost stuck in the walls, causing shivers down his sister's spine. His speech was packed with cannibal jokes and innuendos, his voice growing louder with every remark he made, even with Margot sat on the stairs, his volume practically shook the banister. 

Then came the peace. The sweet voice of Alana enclosed Margot like a comforting hug as a smile tugged at the corners of her lips.   
"It's up to you Mason, but I don't think that sending people over there will result in any good for you other than another death wish." Alana's speech seemed riddled with exhaustion.   
"Oh Dr. Bloom, you must join me in my feast," Mason spat in an amused tone, "Although, you might have had a taste of him before." 

Alana stayed civil towards Mason until the very moment he left the room. 

Margot heard a significantly large sigh and tap of a cane along with the buzz of Mason's mobility chair. She pushed herself up from the stairs in a nearly silent manner and waited for the sound of her brother to fade away before she made her way over to the study and leant against the doorway. Alana steadied herself against the desk with one hand, her other was holding the bridge of her nose, her face plastered with a pained expression. The psychiatrist hasn't noticed Margot's tall frame until she spoke. 

"Doctor Bloom," the way Margot said her name made her stomach flip, her eyes instantly guided to the door, "How much do you know about medicine?" 

She began walking towards Alana with a luring swing of her hips causing the brunette to thoroughly observe Margot's figure for a short moment before meeting her eyes once again.

"Medicine?" she too took a step forward, "What for?" 

"Not long before you arrived, my brother removed my uterus. A clean cut, straighter than you could imagine, but it now appears to be infected." 

It went silent. Alana wasn't aware of the severity of this sibling rivalry and had prior put it down to the simplicity of wealth and success; certainly not the removal of a uterus. 

Margot had become increasingly aware of the amount of time Alana had taken to process the information and felt the need to speak up. 

"Sorry," she started, "Do you think maybe cream will help? I've tried washing it with warm water and then I put ice on it but-" 

She was cut off by the abrupt sound of Alana's voice. 

"Can I see it?"

"The scar?" 

Dr. Bloom nodded. 

The Verger daughter was completely taken aback by this request but started to untuck her shirt all the same. 

"It looks worse than it feels." she explained as she pulled her shirt up. 

Alana took a few more steps towards her, eyes transfixed and the angry red slash across her lower stomach. Margot watched each step the woman took with concentration, confused as to why she wasn't saying anything. 

"I don't know how it managed to get infected, I washed it often," she was desperate to get some sort of response out of Alana, "Maybe that's why it got infected, a new soap or something." 

Alana remained silent, still looking at the scar. 

"I'll change the soap I guess," Margot slightly increased the volume of her voice to make sure that the doctor was hearing her, "if you cant think of a solution, don't worry about it."

"He just sliced you open?" Alana finally uttered a sentence. 

Margot nodded, "Just like a pig."

"Why your uterus?" her eyes had finally averted from the problem and were now looking towards the woman with a questioning expression. 

"Money, power, land. All received through Father and into the hands of Mason. A Verger heir would ruin his grand plans, his life work. So why would he risk all of that for a nephew? As soon as I became pregnant, it was the unravelling of my brother's future schemes." 

"Oh Margot." Alana said in a saddened tone. 

In return, Margot gave her a small smile to reassure her that she was okay.

"The best medicine I can recommend is staying away from Mason." She took another step closer, Margot's heart rate increased. 

"But until then?" her voice was at a lower pitch than previously.

"Get a new soap and I'll pick you up some creams whilst I'm out tomorrow." Alana's eyes had already trailed back towards the scar, this time she gently brushed her hand against it and looked back up at Margot. 

"A new soap." Miss Verger repeated, the touch that she had just received had caused an eruption of butterflies in her stomach.

Alana was now stood barely an inch away from Margot, she could feel her fast paced breath against her forehead as she took another worried glance at the infection. 

She looked up again, noticing Margot's eyes had darkened, she took a final step closer. 

Then the all too familiar sounding buzz came. 

Alana pivoted gently, Margot walking towards the desk, tucking in her shirt. 

"So remind me to lend you that book." Alana said, just as Mason crept into the room. 

"Yes, I'll try and remember." she replied, before leaving the room hastily. 

Alana gave a small nod towards Mason before also leaving the room.

"Doctor Bloom." Mason shouted at her as she walked out. 

"Yes Mr. Verger?" she asked, stopping to hear a reply. 

"Was Hannibal sweet?" he chuckled in a sinister way. 

"Sickly." 

She carried on her way towards the stairs, letting out a sigh of relief, silently glad that she didn't go too far.


	4. Chaleur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alana is laid in her room going over some of the very close encounters the women had experienced over the course of the past few weeks and tries to think of a solution to making their run-ins less tense. 
> 
> Meanwhile, Margot is dealing with her own problems.

Alana threw her keys onto the kitchen side and slipped her bag off of her shoulders, strolling into her bedroom and shrugging off her coat. 

After a long day at the Verger household, her own bed felt like pure bliss; certainly after spending the whole day with Mason, without the slightest glimpse of Margot. 

The 'doting sister' had caused Alana a significant amount of distraction over the past few weeks, not purposely, but most definitely effectively. 

The psychiatrist sighed and kicked off her shoes delicately before proceeding to, not so delicately, flop against her bed, her hair spreading out elegantly over her white pillows. Her mind traced back over the past weeks as she let out a small groan. 

"What am I doing." she muttered rhetorically. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Two weeks ago* 

"Doctor Bloom." Mason's voice shattered Alana's small bubble of comfort as she closed her book and grabbed her cane, making her way towards Mason's bed. 

"Mason." she plastered a fake smile onto her face, dreading the upcoming conversation. 

"My doctor is ill. Ironic I know, but I need my medication and it has to be picked up, so if you could go fetch it for me, that would be splendid," he coughed and spluttered before he continued "the prescription is on that table over there and you already know the address of the doctors I'm sure." 

Alana took the prescription in her hand and turned back to Mason. 

"I don't know where it is actually, but I'll find my way." she kept her eyes fixed on the piece of paper in her hand, reading the long list of medications Mason had to take in order to deal with his ugly exterior and interior. She thought about just pumping them up with morphine and watching the result, but she wouldn't want to kill him off before they got their hands on Hannibal. 

"I could show you." 

The brunette snatched her eyes away from the prescription and instead transfixed them towards the door.

Margot was stood in a black skirt and white blouse, hair swept across one shoulder and a timid smile planted on her face. 

"Well I mean, if you're not busy." Alana returned the small smile and walked towards the door, picking up her keys from the table on her way out. 

"Do be good, won't you girls?" Mason's voice echoed, ending in a sick chuckle. 

Margot darted a look at her brother.  
"Always" she replied, before leading a tired looking Alana towards the front entrance. 

They stayed quiet for a moment before the psychiatrist decided to speak up. 

"How's the scar?" she said softly, stroking the ball of her cane. 

"Still there." Margot laughed. 

Alana returned the smile but continued questioning.  
"Did the cream help with the infection or has it not had much effect?" 

She wasn't just being nosey. She was genuinely concerned about Margots health and wanted to make sure she was okay with everything that seemed to be piled on her in her life. 

"Well the infection has gone, the scar is still pretty angry, but I think it'll calm down eventually." she smiled. 

"I'm sure the pharmacy will have some creams. We can have a look." Alana continued to look forward, just seeing it as a civil thing to do. 

Margot on the other hand was trying to drown the smile that was dangerously close to showing on her face. She was extremely touched by the offer but she didn't want to seem too eager. 

They both stepped out of the house and walked along the crunching gravel to Alana's car. She opened the door and slid in, laying her cane against the back seat. Margot joined her and strapped herself in, holding out her hand to hold her brothers prescription. Alana placed it into her hands and put the key into the ignition, the rumble of the car sending vibrations up their spines. 

They sat in silence for about 5 minutes until They had reached the end of the Verger estate and had made it into the road. 

"Which way am I going from here?" Alana asked, glancing towards Margot before diverting her eyes once again towards the road. 

"Left, but try and avoid the potholes down this road, they're pretty brutal" 

Alana winced at the thought of pain a pothole would cause against her lower back and made it her mission to avoid them as she drive cautiously down the road. 

"Okay we're all clear. Good driving Doctor Bloom, better than I can ever manage." Margot laughed. 

"Safety first." the woman winked before speeding up, completely contradicting her last statement. 

As she was sat in the passenger seat, Margot had a menacing smile spread across her lips as the wink she had just received still played on her mind. 

"Says the woman who was pushed from a window." she smirked, keeping her eyes forward. 

Alana let out a fake gasp. 

"And that's why I will never go near a window again." her voice was filled with mockery. 

"A real life damsel in distress." Margot looked at Alana this time, watching the smile on her lips grow wider. 

"Except the only difference is, instead of Prince charming, your brother was there." she laughed sweetly. 

"That just sounds like A new horror story to me. Let's hope your Prince charming sweeps you off your feet soon, or else you may be stuck with the big bad wolf for longer than you first thought." Margot happily followed along with the metaphor. 

"Talking about the big bad wolf," Alana chuckled, "we both know that his final little piggy appears to be Hannibal himself." 

"Yeah well," Margot sighed, "he's the pig who built his house with bricks. My brother will never catch him if he keeps the tactics he's working with now." 

"I know. Maybe we should just push him out of a window." 

"Hannibal or Mason?" she smiled, they're eyes both meeting before Alana turned her attention back towards the road. 

"I was referring to Hannibal, but I guess if the window is big enough." she let her voice trail off. 

"Take a right here," Margot directed, "so was it Hannibal who pushed you?" 

"No, Hannibal would have enjoyed putting me through more pain than a push through the window." 

"Then who did push you out of a window? I mean I know I said I would do a case study but my suspect list is now non existent due to the innocence of Doctor Hannibal Lecter." she joked. 

"I wouldn't say he was innocent," Alana said with a raised eyebrow, "it was an old patient. She was quite young, she had been put through a lot." 

"So she put you through a window?" Margot said. 

"She certainly did." Alana laughed at Margot's joke. 

"What a bitch." 

Alana looked over at Margot, noticing the anger laced in her voice. She frowned. 

"Like I said, she had been put through a lot, it wasn't really her thinking." 

"It was her who pushed you." Margot said, surprising herself by the amount of anger she appeared to have burning inside of her. 

"Well I survived, that's the important part." 

They stayed quiet for a few moments until the Doctor needed another direction. 

"Another right," Margot said as she noticed the look of confusion on Alana's face, "we're nearly there." 

"Ugh I was hoping the trip would be longer so we could avoid your brother." Alana said truthfully. 

"How about we take a detour on the way back, I'm sure Mason is too worked up in his own mind to worry about us." Margot suggested. 

"Sounds like a plan." she said as she pulled up to a parking spot and pulled the keys from the car. 

"What are we getting anyway?" Margot asked, knowing what tablets her brother needed but not which ones he had run out of. 

"Morphine." Alana said after glancing again at the prescription that Margot had deposited into her hands. 

"I'm sure he had a bottle full of Morphine yesterday." Margot said, climbing out of the car. 

"Maybe he's thinking of topping himself." Alana said, her voice sounding much more hopeful than intended. 

"Don't sound too happy Bloom, he's probably just misplaced them." she laughed 

"Sorry, it wasn't meant to come out like that." Alana said, completely embarrassed. 

Margot got closer to her and whispered into her ear  
"I'll hope with you." 

The feel of Margots warm breath against her cheek made her eyes drop closer for a small moment, before opening them again and smiling towards the woman.

Alana retrieved her cane from the back seat and proceeded to walk towards the pharmacy. Margot hanging around until she caught up so that they were walking side by side. 

"Just as research," Margot said, "How much morphine would it take."

Alana laughed and shook her head. 

"I'm not going to help to top your brother," she turned to her, "Not just yet anyway." 

Margot grunted and stuck her tongue out at Alana. 

"How mature." Alana chuckled, opening the door to the pharmacy and holding it open for Margot. 

She thanked her and walked in, stood patiently by the door whilst Alana closed the door quietly behind them. 

"I'll go and get the prescription, I think the creams are over there." she signalled over towards the vast amount of shelves. 

Margot nodded and walked towards the shelves whilst Alana made her way up to the desk. 

After looking for a minute or two, her eyes glanced back over at Alana, who was checking her phone absent-mindedly. Her hair had covered her face as she looked down at the lit-up screen, her curls falling from behind her ears before she tucked them back again, typing away. 

A small smile crept onto Margot's face as she watched the psychiatrist remove her eyes from her phone quickly when the woman came back with a small bag handing it to her. Alana smiled towards the woman and took the prescription in her hand. Margot averted her eyes back to the creams, picking up a random one and making her way towards the desk. 

Alana smiled when she saw Margot approaching and took the cream from her hands, reading the label and nodding in approval. 

"Should do the job." she placed it on the desk and got out her wallet. 

"What are you doing?" Margot asked. 

"Well we can't just walk out with it." Alana laughed, pulling a few notes from her wallet and holding them in her hand. 

"I'll pay, it's my cream." Margot tilted her head. 

"Too late now," she smirked, handing the woman her money and grabbing the cream from the desk, handing it to Margot, "consider it a gift." 

Margot frowned and took the cream in her hand, thanking Alana anyway and making her way towards the door, in front of the doctor this time. 

Alana looked back towards her phone and tapped away at the screen, causing Margot's smile to return. 

"Ooo, who are you texting, has Doctor Bloom got a boyfriend?" she joked as if she was twelve. 

"It's Alana," she smiled, looking back up from her phone and straight into the green jungle of Margot's eyes, "and no, I'm messaging my brother." 

"I didn't know you had siblings?" Margot said, holding the door open for Alana, just as Alana had done for her earlier. 

"Three brothers." she nodded. 

"Poor you." 

"My relationships with my brothers are significantly different to your relationship with Mason." she laughed, sliding her phone into her pocket. 

"Oh so you mean they didn't steal your uterus or literally drink your tears?" Margot chuckled. 

"Our sibling rivalry was a lot calmer than yours, that's safe to say." 

They both got into the car and strapped themselves in, Alana throwing her cane into the back again and starting it up. 

"So what do you guys talk about?" Margot asked, wondering what it would be like to have a good relationship with her brother. 

"Who?" Alana asked, her mind had become distracted with driving and she had forgotten about what they were talking about.

"Your brothers and you." Margot laughed. 

"Oh, sorry," Alana remembered, tapping her fingers against the wheel as they came to a red light. "Mostly about their kids, sometimes about their jobs. Or we are insulting eachother." she laughed. 

"You have nieces and nephews?" Margot asked, her voice soft. 

"Seven altogether." She smiled at the thought of them. 

Margot's body tingled at how sweet Alana looked, knowing that she truly cared about her sibling's children. 

"Do you want kids?" Margot said after a moment of thought. 

Alana's smile softened and she let out a small sigh. 

"I did," she stopped tapping against the wheel, "but after my accident, they said that my hips might not be able to handle the weight of a baby. It is a possibility, but it will come with many complications." 

Margot smiled sadly at Alana, seeing how upset it had made her. 

Alana looked towards Margot, wondering whether or not to ask the question that was playing on her mind. 

"Did you want kids?" she asked quietly. 

Margot nodded, "I was pregnant once." she had a small smile on her face. 

Alana said nothing and just nodded to let her know that she was listening. 

"But then my brother had a car crash into me and I lost it. Then he took away all my chances of having a baby of my own." she bit her lip. 

Alana looked towards Margot sadly, before stroking her shoulder slightly and then placing it back on the wheel, worried she had gone too far. Margot just smiled and sat up straighter. 

"Where are we going then?" she asked, looking at the view in front of them, not quite familiar with the surroundings. 

"I'm not sure, I just kept turning." Alana laughed. 

"Well keep doing that." Margot nodded, slouching back into her seat and re-reading the label on the cream. 

Alana took another random turn and glanced towards Margot. 

"Maybe that one will work better, it has different oils." she explained. 

"Maybe," Margot said, rubbing her scar through her clothes, "Would you mind if I put some on now?" she asked, sounding shy. 

"No, go ahead." Alana smiled.

Margot untucked her blouse from her skirt and started to unbutton it. Alana worked hard to keep her eyes on the road as Margot unscrewed the lid of the cream and applied some to her scar. She gasped a little at the cold temperature of it but then relaxed as it soothed the sting the scar gave her constantly. 

"Feel better?" Alana asked.

"It tingles." Margot giggled like a small girl. 

Alana couldn't help but smile at how cute she sounded. 

"Usually means it's working." 

Margot smiled and started to button up her shirt again, tucking it back into her skirt. She felt the car come to a halt and looked out the window. They were surrounded by a beautiful wood area, she looked towards Alana who appeared to be looking at something in front of the car. She followed the brunettes eyes and caught glimpse of a deer. 

"It's beautiful." Alana said in complete awe. 

"Yeah," Margot looked back at Alana, "beautiful." she smiled, before looking back at the deer. 

They sat in the car for half an hour before it started to go dark, observing their surroundings and offering a few comments from time to time, but mostly just enjoying the comfort of eachother's company. 

"We had best get back." Alana sighed, looking at her watch. 

"If we can find our way back." Margot laughed, strapping herself in again. 

"What's the name of this place, I want to come back." Alana asked. 

"I'm not sure, drive out and we might see a sign." 

Alana did as Margot said and let her look for a sign as she focused on the road. 

"Chaleur woodlands." Margot said, finding a sign. 

"Doesn't that mean 'heat' in French?" she asked. 

Margot nodded. 

"Must be something to do with romance." she said. 

Alana sighed.  
"Why do they always leave the most beautiful places for people in love?" she smiled. 

"Who knows." Margot returned the smile as they made their way back home. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alana sat herself up and swung herself out of her bed, walking towards the shower, wondering what Margot was doing right now, doubting she would be thinking about their encounters as she was doing. 

Margot was in fact, at this moment of time, frantically searching for her phone, throwing things all over looking for it. 

"Damn." she muttered, having finished searching another room with no sign of her phone. 

She wandered off into the kitchen, looking around for a moment before padding towards the balcony that lead off of it. 

"Got you." she said, grabbing her phone from the chair on-looking a small section of the Verger estate. 

Margot unlocked her phone and scrolled through her contacts. Alana had given Margot her number previously in case there was a problem with Mason and she hadn't yet needed to use it, but now she didn't know who else to call. 

She pressed call and bit her lip anxiously. 

The phone rang a few times before she heard Alana's voice. 

"Hello?" Alana asked, confused who the unknown number belonged to, half dressed after her shower. 

"Alana." Margot breathed in relief. 

"Margot? Is everything okay? Has Mason done something to you?" The woman asked, worried, as she padded back towards her bedroom and sat on her bed. 

"He said he's found a surrogate mother, somebody who he has put my uterus in." her voice was shaking. 

"Well do you know who it is?" Alana asked, pulling on a shirt and trousers, getting ready to meet Margot. 

"A pig." Margot's voice whispered, a tear rolling down her face. 

Alana stayed quiet for a minute, before continuing to dress herself. 

"Meet me at the stables, I'll be 15minutes tops." she said, grabbing her keys and locking the door behind her. 

"Please don't put the phone down." Margot's voice sound desperate and riddled with hurt. 

"I won't," Alana said softly, placing her phone into its holder, "I promise." 

They both stayed quiet, Margot being comforted by Alana simply being on the other end of the phone. 

"I'm nearly there, Margot," she said. Margot stayed quiet. "Margot, are you there?" her voice sounded concerned. 

"I'm here." she whispered, starting to walk towards the stables. 

"I can see you." Alana said, throwing the door open of her car, not caring to get her cane and just walking towards Margot, as fast as her hips would allow her. 

Margot practically ran at the doctor and let tears fall down her face. Alana enveloped her into a hug and absent-mindedly stroked her hair. 

"Shh, it's okay, I'm here now." she breathed into her hair

"Alana." Margot whimpered, looking her in the eyes.

"It's going to be okay. Can you tell me where it is?" Alana asked, cupping Margot's face in her hands. 

"The farm." she whispered. 

Alana took Margot's hand in her own and started to walk towards the farm, preparing herself for what she was about to see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ended up longer than expected, but oh well, I thought I would add a flashback for some insight into their encounters:)


	5. Douleur

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alana and Margot face the brutality that Mason had lead them towards. 
> 
>  
> 
> *smut warning*

Alana kept hold of Margot's hand tightly as they made their way through the house, passing the vast variety of rooms and balconies, all empty. 

"Where's Mason?" Alana asked, still leading the way towards the farm. 

"He had to go somewhere. I'm not sure where." 

Alana frowned. Margot sounded like a wounded child who had just found out their beloved pet had died. She stopped walking. 

"We're not there yet." Margot said, her eyebrows burrowed in confusion. 

"I know," Alana said, "are you sure you're ready to see?" 

Margot shuffled her feet for a moment before nodding and letting Alana lead her further on. Her hips and lower back were in immense amounts of pain, but she didn't acknowledge them. 

As they reached the room, the psychiatrist pushed the door open slowly, turning back to Margot again, making sure that she was completely okay with what she was about to see. She knew it was going to hurt her, but she wanted her to be prepared for the worst. 

The sight that was planted before their eyes could traumatise even the strongest of people. 

A bloody pig, laid across a table, a long slice down it's stomach, attached to all sort of monitors. 

They both approached the pig, Margot slower than Alana, her body in shock at what she was seeing. Alana, on the other hand, approached the monitors, analysing what she could see. 

"Is it dead?" Margot uttered. 

"There isn't a heartbeat. I'm so sorry Margot." she approached the shaking lady and wrapped her arms around her. 

"Get it out, please, get it out. It needs to be buried." Margot cried. 

Alana gave a sympathetic nod and approached the animal. She looked around for something she could use to reopen the newly stitched wound until she found a large pair of scissors. The brunette took a deep breath in as she sliced through the thread and flesh, blood pouring everywhere. 

Margot watched, grabbing a nearby towel and handing it to Alana as she pulled her baby from the animal and wrapped it up. 

"It's a boy." The doctor whispered, holding him out for Margot to take. 

The younger woman took the baby in her arms, tears glistening in her eyes. 

"Should we bury him now?" Margot asked, still confused about everything that was happening. 

"If you want to bury him now, then we can," Alana said, stroking Margot's back, "if you want to do it in private, I can always leave." 

"No, stay." she kept her eyes fixed on her stillborn baby. 

Alana nodded, placing her hand around Margot's waist and leading her towards the doorway. 

"Spend some time with him, I'll get myself cleaned up." she said sadly, waiting for Margot to respond before she went to clean all the blood on her. The only response she did receive was a small nod. 

Margot looked down at the dead baby in her arms and wished instead her brother was the one they were about to bury. Every single thing that Margot had loved had been pulled away from her as Mason laughed in her face, and she struggled, obviously she struggled, but she was okay. Now he had killed her baby. Her son. Her only legacy. Her heart beat grew faster and a few more tears dropped onto the towel. He was beautiful. She stroked his hair and rocked him, her silent cries being the only atmosphere around her. 

Alana walked in, she watched as Margot rocked back and forth, holding onto her baby and wishing never to let go. She put down what she was holding and padded barefoot towards her, wiping the tears away from her face, not saying a word. She walked back over to where she had positioned the object she had been holding and spoke. 

"I have this." she said, holding a small white chest. 

"What is it?" Margot asked, wiping away some more tears. 

"It's a chest. It's meant to hold precious things and it's big, so I thought maybe..." her voice trailed off. 

"His coffin." Margot finished her sentence and looked back at her baby. 

Alana nodded. 

"I could line it with a few of my silk shirts and we could find a nice place to do it." she said, trying not to sound like she was forcing Margot into anything. 

"That would be lovely." Margot gave her best attempt of a smile. 

Alana returned the smile and wandered off to the room in which she kept a few changes of clothes in case she spent the night. She pulled out two white silk blouses and opened the chest, laying them delicately, before finding some flats and sliding them onto her feet, making her way back out to Margot, who was still doing the same as she had been a few minutes ago, but the rocking had stopped and her crying had lessened. 

"I think I'm ready." Margot said, planting a small kiss on her baby's head. 

"Where are you thinking of burying him?" Alana whispered. 

"Near the stables. Nobody goes there." she replied, looking up at Alana who was wearing a pair of white trousers that came halfway down her calf, a white shirt that she had tucked in and a black blazer, still holding the chest in her arms. 

As they both started to make their way over to the stables, Margot leant her head on Alana's shoulder as the psychiatrist wrapped her free arm around her waist, stroking her side gently. She never thought that Mason would do such a thing. She knew he was sick in the head for removing Margot's uterus, but she didn't know he would go this far. 

When they reached the stables, Alana disappeared inside to grab a shovel and let Margot show her exactly where she wanted him buried before digging a deep hole. 

"Do you want to name him?" Alana asked, cautious of the way she worded her question. 

Margot shook her head. 

"It makes it too real." she whispered. 

Alana nodded to show that she understood and picked up the chest again, opening the top. 

Margot planted one last kiss on the baby's head before placing him into it, covering his body with the silk and closing the lid. 

Alana handed the entire chest to Margot, searching her face to find a way to help, but she knew at this moment there was nothing she could do or say to make her happy. 

She laid her baby into his grave and started to cover him up, a few dangerous tears were forming in her eyes, but she managed to blink them back as she scattered the last of the soil, patting the top gently with the back of the shovel. 

She turned back to Alana who was looking at her, eye's full of sympathy, as she took Margot into her arms and rocked her slightly, feeling the jerks of her shoulders with every tear that fell from her eyes. 

"We have Hannibal now," Alana said, looking her straight in the eye, "We don't need Mason anymore." 

"I want a baby." Margot whimpered. 

"Then we use Hannibal." She took both of Margot's hands in her own. 

"I don't want Hannibal's baby." Margot said, misunderstanding what Alana was trying to say. 

"No," she tucked a stray piece of hair behind Margot's ear, "but if we can get him to help us milk Mason, then you have a chance of a baby." 

"Why would Hannibal help us?" Margot asked. 

"If he helps us, I'll let him go." 

"But he wants to kill you, Alana." the horse rider whispered. 

"He won't try and kill me for a long while, he will keep a low profile for as long as possible. Margot, please, let me help you." Alana's voice was riddled with desperation. 

Margot looked into Alana's eyes, her heart warming from the kindness she was offering, and without thinking she planted her lips onto hers. 

She quickly pulled back. 

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have done that I'm so sorry I know you were just being kind god I'm such an idiot-" Margot's breathless ramblings were cut short as Alana pulled her by her hand and placed her lips back onto hers, returning it this time. 

When the kiss ended they both looked into eachother's eyes. 

"I'm going to run a bath." Margot said, not knowing what to say after their kiss. 

"Do you want me to stay or go? I can do either." Alana asked. 

"Stay, in my room" Margot said, then thinking she sounded too eager and added, "I don't want to be alone when Mason gets home." 

Alana nodded and walked with Margot back to the house, no touching this time, just feeling the heat off of eachother's body was enough for both of them. 

When they reached the mansion, Margot went upstairs to run a bath and Alana stepped out onto the balcony leading off from her room. It had turned dark quickly and the moonlight reflected off of the mirror like pond. She stood there for quite a while until she heard the water stop running and instead the creak of the bathroom door. She spun around to look at Margot who was wrapped in a towel, despite having not yet stepped into the water, and smiled. 

"I just wanted to say thanks," Margot said, "for everything." 

Alana smiled at her.   
"That's okay." she said. 

Margot disappeared back into the bathroom, leaving Alana to return back to the breath taking scenery that surrounded her. 

She stood there until Margot emerged from the bathroom, in just her underwear, holding the pot of cream that they had bought a couple of weeks back. 

"Um," she began shyly, Alana keeping her eyes transfixed on her face rather than letting them trail aimlessly over her body, "I can do the scar on my stomach, but Elise, the maid, she usually does the one on my shoulder and she doesn't seem to be here, so could you..?" Margot held out the pot of cream towards Alana, letting out a small sigh of relief when she came and took the cream. 

Alana walked around the back of Margot and brushed her wet hair out of the way, exposing the scar. 

"What does Elise think about Mason giving you all of these scars?" Alana asked, scooping some cream onto her hand, before placing the pot down on the bedside table.

"She thinks they're from a horse riding accident." Margot admitted. 

"Ahh, I see." the psychiatrist said, applying some of the cream, gently, to Margot's skin, placing her other hand on her other shoulder. 

Margot tilted her head towards Alana's hand as she subconsciously drew patterns along Margot's shoulder blade with her thumb. 

As Margot was slightly taller than Alana, she had to stand on her toes to see the scar, but she managed it well, and rubbed the cream in thoroughly. She removed her hands from Margot's shoulder as she turned to smile at Alana. 

"Thanks." Margot said, pulling on a silk dressing gown. 

"Do you want me to do your stomach too? I still have some cream on my hands." Alana offered, not wanting to cross any boundaries. 

"Sure, if you like." she smiled. 

Alana circled Margot and pushed her dressing gown out of the way slightly, before sitting down on the bed so she was closer to the scar. She took a little more cream on her hands and stroked them across the line, making sure not to push too hard. Margot gasped slightly. 

"Oh God, did I hurt you?" Alana asked, snapping her hand back quickly. 

"No," Margot chuckled, catching her hand, "it's just cold." she placed Alana's delicate hands back onto her stomach. 

She continued to rub in the cream, feeling Margot's soft skin beneath her fingertips. 

She leant forward and placed a small kiss just below her ribcage, her hand moving from Margot's stomach to her side. 

Margot's hand found it's way to Alana's hair, stroking it lovingly. 

Alana moved her lips slightly higher, brushing them against her ribcage, feeling Margot's breath become shallower. She pushed herself off the bed and brushed Margot's dressing gown from her shoulder, placing a small kiss on her scar, then trailed towards her neck. Margot tilted her head back allowing Alana more room to work with and she placed her hands on the woman's waist, gently pulling her closer. 

"Alana." Margot managed to moan between breaths, tugging at Alana's blouse, asking her for permission. 

"Mhm" the brunette agreed, not taking her lips from the column of Margot's neck. 

Margot worked at the buttons to Alana's blouse as she shrugged it from her shoulders and threw it behind her. Miss Verger wasted no time with the next item of clothing, unzipping Alana's trousers. 

Alana's mouth met Margot's for a deep kiss before she stepped out of her trousers and shoes and span them around, pushing Margot back onto the bed, finding a position that didn't put too much strain on her back, and being cautious of Margot's scar. 

She leant over her, her lips meeting Margot's neck once again. Margot's hands entangled into Alana's hair, pulling her closer. 

Alana brought her head up and looked Margot straight in the eye. 

"You're so beautiful." she stroked her hands across Margot's side and planted a small kiss on her lips. 

Margot wrapped her legs around Alana's waist, carefully, and deepened the kiss. 

Alana's hand worked up unclasp Margot's bra as she threw it to the side, taking her breasts into her hands. 

"Alana, please." Margot moaned, pulling her back down for a kiss. 

A small smile crept onto Alana's lips as she took Margot's nipple in her mouth, rolling her tongue across it, enjoying making her squirm. 

Margot arched her back to increase the amount of contact and started to roll her hips against Alana, causing her to let out a small whimper. 

"Fuck." Margot moaned, sending shivers down Alana's spine. 

She moved down her body and brushed her lips across her panty waistline, catching the fabric in her mouth and pulling it down slowly, teasing her thighs in the process. 

She threw the underwear behind her and kissed her way back up Margot's legs, spending a agonisingly long time on her thighs, until Margot was practically begging her. 

Margot took a sharp breath in when Alana finally reached where she needed her the most, biting her lip to stop herself from moaning. 

Alana replaced her tongue with her hand and kissed her way back up to Margot's mouth, kissing her deeply before saying. 

"Bonus of having a big house, you can be as loud as you want and nobody will hear you." she gently sucked on her earlobe, her hand working at a steady pace, Margot no longer even trying to keep quiet, her hands fumbling with Alana's bra strap. 

She pulled off her bra and kneaded her breasts, keeping her lips attached to Alana's to drown out her moans, occasionally biting Alana's lip, making her weaken, her hand slowing down before speeding up again. 

Alana moved back down Margot's body, adding even more pleasure, Margot tugged at her hair, her back arching even more now. 

"Alana... Alana I... Fuck." 

A final flick of her tongue sent Margot over the edge. Alana pressed her lips against hers, taking in all her moans. 

She flopped down next to Margot, both of them breathing heavily. Margot rested her head on Alana's bare chest. 

"Thankyou." she whispered, kissing her collarbone. 

Alana stroked Margot's hair and kissed her forehead. 

"Get some sleep," she said, "I need to brush my teeth." 

Margot shuffled over so Alana could get out and she wandered to the bathroom, flicking on the light. 

She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, smiling at how messy her hair was and brushed her teeth before walking back into the bedroom, turning the light off behind her. 

When she walked in, Margot was already nearly asleep. 

"You still want me to stay here?" Alana asked, hugging her own frame, trying to warm herself up. 

Margot held up the duvet, gesturing Alana to join her, and wrapped her arm around her when she got in. 

"Definitely, but no cold feet please." she laughed, scooting away from Alana's toes. 

Alana smiled and let Margot nuzzle into her neck. She stroked her hair until she fell asleep, Alana following soon after.


	6. Eau

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the night they had just spent together, Margot tries to find a way to keep things going, without her brother finding out, whilst she has other things going through her mind.

Margot's eyelids fluttered open, rolling onto the flat of her back and rubbing her eyes slightly. The room had lit up from the natural sunlight beaming through the open window, the white curtains blowing softly in the breeze. She gazed out of the window, watching leaves shake on their branches, clouds passing slowly by. She let a relaxed breath out before glancing to her side. 

A small smile crept onto her face as she saw the beautiful figure laid beside her. Alana's hair had sprawled out across the pillow, her body entangled in the sheets and her face peaceful. Margot listened to her steady breathing before sliding out of her bed, picking up the discarded dressing gown and slipping it on over her bare skin, bowing the tie and strolling towards the balcony. The green eyed woman wrapped her arms around her as the cold air hit her skin, keeping herself warm. A few small animals hopped by and the hum of cars relaxed the atmosphere. Margot ran her hand through her hair before placing it back onto her side, tilting her head to see the view. 

She was about to walk back into the room when she felt a pair of arms slither around her waist, pulling her closer to them. 

"Good Morning." Margot smiled, recognising the arms and spinning around to face the woman. 

Alana smiled back at her, stood in just her underwear. Margot reached up and tucked a stray hair behind the brunette's ear and stroked the side of her face. 

"How did you sleep?" she asked, resting her hand on Alana's shoulder. 

"Very well," she attached her lips to Margot's neck, "you?"

"The same." the Verger daughter said, leaning her head back. 

"Good." Alana took Margot by the hand and lead her back into the bedroom. 

"What time is it?" Margot asked, wandering off to the bathroom. 

The psychiatrist took a glance towards the clock. 

"Half past nine." 

"And when is your appointment with Mason?" Margot called from the bathroom. 

"Eleven." Alana replied, gathering up her clothes from the floor. 

Miss Verger appeared from the bathroom, her dressing gown open, tying her hair up. Alana's eyes trailed up and down her body, watching her as she opened her wardrobe, searching for some clothes to wear. 

"What do you want to do this morning? We could eat? We still have some time until you have to see Mason." Margot said, still searching through her wardrobe. 

"We could," Alana said, approaching Margot and wrapping her arms around her waist, "Or we could spend another hour in bed." 

Margot spun around and smiled at Alana, planting a small kiss on her lips before turning back to her clothes. 

"My brother is in the house," she sighed, "And besides, I'm hungry." she added a small pout at the end of her sentence. 

"Food it is then." The older woman wandered back to her clothes and scooped them into her arms, walking out of the door. 

"Where are you going?" 

"To get some clean clothes." Alana replied. 

"Just wear that, you didn't have it on for long yesterday." Margot smirked. 

"Fine." she replied, pulling on her blouse and trousers, holding the blazer in her arms. 

Margot pulled a black and white dress from her wardrobe, closing it gently and stepping into the dress, wrapping the tie around her waist.

"Ready?" Alana asked, holding open the door. 

"Ready." Margot grabbed her coat from the chair and carried it in a similar manner to Alana. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had managed to avoid everybody as they walked down the stairs and were practically on a miracle walk, right up until the precise moment Alana opened the front door. 

"I see you found my surrogate?" Mason's sinister voice turned their miracle into a hellish nightmare. 

Alana took a step forward, ready to say something to Mason, but Margot butted in before she had a chance. 

"We did," Margot stepped forward, subtly brushing Alana away with her hand to stop her from getting any closer to her brother, "Congratulations. You are still, most certainly, the only living Verger heir."

Mason let out a sickening chuckle and ended with a smirk, earning him a look of disgust from his psychiatrist. 

"Well, in order to celebrate, I guess we had better eat the surrogate." he continued to laugh, moving slowly towards Alana. 

She thought for a moment, debating on whether to strangle him or beat him, but then she felt the small squeeze of Margot's hand which relaxed her a significant amount. Whether Margot was simply warning her not to kill her brother for moral reasons, or whether it was because she wanted to save that murder for herself was completely irrelevant. She was there and that was all that mattered. 

"I think I will have to pass on that offer, pigs aren't to my taste." she eventually decided on saying. 

"Ha!" Mason exclaimed, "I'm surprised that you're not into salty meats Alana. Hannibal always said you liked the taste of something salty." 

The green eyed sister glared at Mason before shooting a sympathetic look towards the brunette, showing that she didn't have to listen to him. And although Alana did return her look with a small, barely noticeable, sigh, Margot could see the look of hurt resting behind her eyes. 

"Where are you going anyway?" The beast broke the silence, the buzz of his chair starting up again as he worked to successfully circle the two women. 

"Doctor Bloom said that she would help me pick up some supplies for the stables, I can't lift them alone." his sister replied. 

Mason looked between the both of them before spinning around. 

"Have fun, drive safe now won't you. We wouldn't want either of you to get hurt." his voice was filled with darkness. 

Alana waited for him to leave before turning back to Margot. 

"Supplies for the stable?" she laughed, slapping both of her hands to her face. 

Margot punched her lightly. 

"I didn't know what to say." she giggled back. 

Alana simply smiled at her and smoothed her hand down one of her arms, opening the door successfully this time, strolling out towards the car.

"Where are we going anyway?" Margot asked, sitting in the car. 

Alana did the same, putting her cane down. She started the car up and smiled, pulling the handbrake and keeping her eyes forwards. 

"Just wait." she smiled, starting to drive down the estate. 

"Hey," she punched the driver on the arm, "That's not fair!" 

Alana just laughed and kept driving. 

"Alana." Margot sounded more stern this time. 

"Nope." she laughed again. 

She sulked back, crossing her arms in a huff, like a child. 

The psychiatrist caught a glimpse of Margot out the corner of her eye, a smile still planted on her face and reached out her hand, linking her fingers with the Verger daughter's. Margot reluctantly let her hand drop for Alana to take, which she did happily, trying to fight a small smile on her face to prove that she still wasn't happy about not being told where they were going. 

"I hate surprises you know." Margot murmured. 

"Well you'll love this one." Alana finally managed to get out of the estate, turning the wheel and leaning back more comfortably in her seat. 

For the following few minutes, Margot look out of the window, at first trying to figure out where they were going, but it eventually led to her mind wondering what she could do in order to keep this relationship with Alana going. She knew that it may come across like she was going too fast. They weren't at all serious, nor were they dating, so she didn't understand why she was so worried about losing the brunette. All that she did understand was that if Mason found out, he wouldn't hesitate to rip them apart, especially not if she was somebody who Margot truly cared about. 

"What are you thinking about?" Alana asked softly, stroking the back of Margot's hand. 

For a moment, she thought about telling her, but she didn't want to seem like she was getting ahead of herself. 

"I'm just trying to work out where you're dragging me to." Margot turned her head to look at her, giving her hand a small squeeze. 

"You're the one who said you were hungry," Alana laughed, "If it weren't for you, we could spent another hour in bed." 

"We don't have to get food if you don't want to eat." the green eyed woman said. 

"I do want to eat," Alana smirked, tapping the steering wheel, "But this wasn't the sort of food I had in mind." 

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Margot exclaimed. 

"We're here." Alana said, ignoring Margot's previous question and pulling up. 

Margot looked up, towards the view in front of her. 

"It's a house." she said. 

Alana laughed, "It's my house." she took her cane from the back seat and opened her door, stepping out of the car. 

Margot smiled, she was sat in a car outside of Doctor Alana Bloom's house. She felt like a fan who had pulled up to their favourite band member's mansion. It certainly wasn't a mansion, but it looked homely. 

Alana had walked over to Margot's door and opened it for her. She got out of the car and let Alana shut the door behind them before she followed her towards the front door, playing with the tie on her dress. 

Doctor Bloom unlocked the door, before being attacked by her dog. 

"Hey Applesauce," she giggled like a little girl, "you hungry?" 

The dog wagged her tail in response. 

"Come on then." Alana said, stepping inside of the house. 

As she moved out of the way, Applesauce caught a glimpse of Margot in the doorway and jumped at her. 

Margot smiled, stroking her happily. 

"Aren't you cute." she laughed, Applesauce going mad. 

"Come on girl." Alana called, placing a bowl of dog food on the floor. 

The speckled dog came dashing over, happily starting to eat her food. Margot closed the door behind her, approaching the kitchen. 

"Applesauce?" Margot asked, still smiling at the name. 

"She likes Applesauce." Alana smiled back, pulling out a chair for Margot to sit on. 

Margot sat down and tapped her fingers on the table. 

Alana walked over to the sink and washed her hands, watching Applesauce wander out of the kitchen into the living room, curling up into her bed. 

"Pancakes?" she asked, looking in her fridge, before turning back towards Margot. 

"I haven't had pancakes in years." Margot said. 

Alana gasped, "Definitely pancakes then." 

Margot nodded. 

"Um," she said, pushing herself off her chair, "Alana." 

"Yeah." the brunette didn't look away from the batter she was mixing in front of her.

"I was thinking about what you said last night, about Hannibal being able to help us." Margot said, resting her hand on her stomach subconsciously. 

Alana turned this time, still mixing the batter, "What about it?" she smiled warmly, making Margot feel safe. 

"I know that we have a source for the sperm, but I need to start looking for somebody to carry the baby," she started, "So I was thinking abut surrogates, obviously, but I don't think that I would be able to explain the whole situation to them. The whole 'I would love it if you could carry my baby because my brother cut my uterus out and I cant have children, my previous donor was a pig' thing might not wash off as easily with strangers." she let out a sad chuckle. 

"Margot, you're so silly" Alana put the bowl down and walked towards her, "When I said that Hannibal could help us, I meant us. Me and you. I will carry your baby, Margot, I wouldn't have suggested otherwise." she brushed a stray hair away from Margot's face and smiled. 

"You're willing to carry my baby?" her eyes started to fill up with tears. 

"Mhm." Alana replied with a smile. 

Margot slithered her hands up into Alana's hair and pulled her into a kiss. 

She pulled away afterwards, looking into Alana's eyes and resting her forehead on hers. 

This time Alana pulled Margot into the kiss, biting her bottom lip slightly before stepping back. 

"Thank you." Margot smiled sweetly, picking up the bowl from behind Alana. 

"Anytime." Alana smiled in return. 

They continued to talk about anything and everything, cooking and eating their pancakes before slouching down on the sofa for a while until it was time for them to leave.


	7. Risque

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Alana's draining session with Mason, she goes to find Margot. 
> 
> FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF

"I wouldn't say it was a success feast, rather a celebration." Mason's voice sounded metallic compared to the sweet, soft voice of Alana. 

The women had gotten home just in time for Alana's session with Margot's brother. They had stopped off at the farm shop on the way back home to pick up some hay for the stables to make sure that he didn't get too suspicious. 

When they had walked in, Mason noticed nothing, no questions were asked, other than "Have you seen how well I'm fattening Hannibal up?" which both women chose to ignore. 

The drive home had been full of questions. Most of them to do with how they would come about harvesting Margot's brothers sperm ready for surrogacy, but Margot was having an inner conversation with herself, conflicted about what to do in order to ensure Alana's safety throughout the whole of this process. The last thing she wanted to do was harm somebody else through her own deed. The psychiatrist had been so confident that this was a fool proof idea that she had planted herself into a selfless mind-set and had barely considered the consequences that would follow from this. Yes, there was first the danger of Hannibal Lecter being on the loose, the man who had promised to kill Alana, whether it was the last thing he did or not, which was clearly a big concern from where Margot was standing. But there were also other things to take into consideration. She had already said that she wanted to have children but it would involve many complications after her injury, putting too much strain on her hips and lower back and Miss Verger didn't want her to end up with even more severe injuries because she carried a child. Margot was aware that her pain had improved, so she didn't want to put her back to square one through pregnancy. 

Barely any of these thoughts made it out of Margot's mouth. She didn't want to seem ungrateful or patronising, especially not now. 

The last thing that she had to prevent happening was Mason. Her spiteful brother wouldn't hesitate to remove Alana from her life if she had become a threat to the Verger fortune that he so happily acquired after the death of their Father.

The easiest way for her to do this would be to kill him, but she knew that it was easier said that done. 

Alana, on the other hand, was thinking back over the last few days and wondering what she had thrown herself into. She knew she hadn't made a mistake offering to be the surrogate to Margot's baby, but she knew how unprofessional it had been to sleep with your patient's sister. However, not much that was happening had been very professional, especially not with the Verger family. She had helped kidnap somebody who used to be a close friend and colleague, an ex-lover. That most certainly was not on the job description of being a psychiatrist. Now she had managed to get wrapped up in Margot's life, which she was quite content with, but she wasn't so sure her brother would feel the same way, not after everything that had happened with Will and the baby. Then again, if Mason really did still have concerns about Margot still somehow being able to conceive, despite the lack of uterus, being a lesbian would most definitely rule out any fertility problems that she may experience. 

Like Margot's thoughts, Alana's remained fixed solely in her mind rather than her mouth, making the drive home relatively quiet.

Margot had gone her own way when they arrived home, taking the hay with her, whereas Alana had took the lead of Mason and stepped into his study. 

"What about a simple apple in the mouth? Unleash his inner pig." A shuddersome laugh followed Mason's disgusting comment. 

"You are what you eat Mason. Don't get side-tracked by how you are going to cook him and just focus on how to treat him whilst he is still alive." Alana sighed. 

"I'll treat him how I would treat a pig, Doctor Bloom, his friend, Will Graham, I might give him a more comfortable experience, I need to keep his good looks in tact." 

Alana stopped for a moment, processing what Mason had just said. 

"His good looks?" She took a step closer to Mason. 

"His face." he replied, simply. 

The psychiatrist shot him a confused look before he went on to explain himself. 

"Have you seen my face Doctor Bloom, or what remains of it anyway?," Alana nodded, "Then you must understand why I need a new face. Now I would use Hannibal Lecter's, but I think his cheeks could make an amazing alternative to steak, quite tough you see, so I would have to use somebody else's face. Are you following so far?"

"You want to take Will's face for your own?" Alana was quite astounded by this idea. 

"So you do follow," his voice was patronising, "He was a threat from the start, we can't let him get away with that now can we?"

"We? No, Mason, this is your game." the brunette outlined her boundaries clearly. 

"He will continue to live, he will just be faceless. He will be living my life, yet with the ability to use his limbs. His life will remain intact until I figure out what to do with him next." 

"He isn't a threat anymore, Mason. Margot doesn't even have a uterus." 

"You're right," Mason began, "But I had to use up my time to slice her open to make that happen. And why did I have to do that?" he paused, "Because that sociopath got my sister knocked up."

"In his defence, I don't think the circumstances were outlined to him before the baby came about. Not many people ask whether or not their brother will have to cut out their uterus if they don't use protection," Alana said, "Why are you letting Will Graham distract you from the real situation in hand? Hannibal caused the loss of your face." 

"You're not wrong, Doctor Bloom, but you can never have too much fun."

Nothing was said for a few moments.

"I think that is all for today Doctor Bloom. I don't have much to discuss with you. I have much more to discuss with Cordell." Mason finished with before leaving the room.

Alana was still breathing deeply from her outburst about Will, her chest heaving. She took a moment to compose herself before she wandered out of the room and up the stairs. 

She knocked on Margot's bedroom door before peeking her head inside. A look of disappointment washed over her face when she didn't find her reading a book, sat on her bed. 

She knocked on the ensuite door, checking to see if she was in the bathroom. 

Still no reply. 

The blue eyed woman sighed, tapping her cane onto the ground, gripping the handle with both hands. 

After a small amount of time, she made her way to the balcony and glanced over the pond, watching a few cars pass along the very end of the estate, most probably Mason's cooks. 

After looking for a while, a small movement caught her eye. As she looked closer, she saw a figure hauling hay bales over the stable door, a discarded pitchfork by their side, their plait bumping against their back with every bale they threw over the oak. 

A smile crept onto Alana's face as she watched Margot lean back, brushing a stray hair out of her face with the back of her hand and exhaling sharply. 

She made her way back down the stairs and towards the back of the house. As she stepped outside, it became clear that Margot was hauling more hay bales than they had bought that morning. 

Once Alana had neared, she caught the attention of Miss Verger, who had stopped and started to approach the Doctor, brushing her hands down on her jodhpurs and smiling. 

"I'm sure I couldn't fit that much hay in my car." Alana laughed. 

Margot smiled at the sound of her laugh and stood beside her, signalling towards the stables. 

"I asked Natasha to pick me some up a few days back." she explained. 

"Natasha?" The psychiatrist asked, with a hint of jealousy laced in her voice. 

"The animal keeper," Margot moved in front of Alana, "is that a problem?" she smirked. 

She blushed, looking down, her brown curls covering her face. 

Margot giggled, tipping Alana's head back up. 

"Don't be embarrassed," she smiled, "It's nice to know you actually care." the woman closed the gap between them, her plait brushing against the brunette's face. 

"Hmm." Alana mumbled, resting her head against Margot's. 

"Alana," Margot took a step back, causing a frown to wash over the blue eyed woman's face, "My brother is home."

Alana nodded. 

"Sorry." 

"Don't apologise," she gave a sympathetic smile before nodding towards the hay bales, wandering back over to where she was before, "I don't have many more left to do. These ones will just have to go over the other door, Natasha isn't here so I don't have the wheelbarrow. Just go round the back and I'll meet you there." 

"I'll help." Alana said, quickening her pace behind Margot. 

Margot's eyes wandered down to Alana's cane and back up to her eyes. 

"I'm not a cripple, Margot." she laughed, resting her cane against the stable door. 

"I know, I know," her voice was still full of hesitation, "There is just a few left though, I can do it."

"And you can do it even faster if I help." Alana pointed out, rolling the sleeves up on her blazer and picking up a hay bale herself. 

"You're so stubborn." Margot sighed, picking up a hay bale too and knocking Alana gently with her hip. 

"Hey!" the brunette exclaimed, following the tall figure towards the back of the stable. 

Margot looked back, sticking her tongue out at Alana and laughing. 

By now, the 'stubborn' lady had caught up and knocked Margot with her hip, just as she had done to her earlier. 

"If you weren't so pretty I would tackle you." Margot said, narrowing her eyes in a comical manner. 

Alana replied by knocking her hip again. 

"I'm warning you." Margot laughed. 

Once again, the psychiatrist knocked their hips together. 

"That's it." Margot dropped her hay bale, Alana doing the same, and picked her up, bridal style. 

"Margot!" Alana squealed, both of them laughing like children. 

"Nope, I warned you." she walked around the back of the stables and kicked open the door, still laughing. 

"What are you doing?!" the psychiatrist managed to ask through her giggles. 

Margot ignored her and walked towards the pile of hay. 

"No," Alana wiggled, working out Margot's plan, "No, no, no." She realised she had been defeated and let her head drop back.

Margot erupted into a fit of giggles as she dumped Alana straight into the hay, the petite figure disappearing into the silage. 

"You are evil Margot Verger." her voice said from beneath the hay. 

Alana's head popped up, frowning like a child, hair enweaved with the strands of hay.

Margot started to laugh even more now, practically falling over. 

She pushed herself up, brushing off the golden strands and took a step closer to Margot, wrapping her arms around her neck. 

Margot's laughs settled as she looked into Alana's eyes. 

The smaller figure pulled Margot further down into a deep kiss. Instantly Margot returned the gesture, smiling onto Alana's soft lips. 

Alana smiled too, before slowly pivoting, keeping Margot's lips against hers until one very short moment. 

Margot frowned when Alana pulled her lips away, noticing the smile still tugging at her lips. 

"Karma.'' the angelic voice said. 

"Huh?" Margot mumbled. 

Everything was quickly explained when Alana shoved her into the hay, making it her turn to laugh and rolling her sleeves back up. 

"I guess I deserved it." Margot crawled out of the pile of hay. 

Alana nodded, still laughing. 

Once she had properly brushed herself down, Alana placed a small peck on her lips and tried to stifle her laughs. 

"Okay, okay, now lets go and actually clear up this hay." 

"Ugh," Margot grunted, "I'm sick of hay." but she followed Alana out anyway, throwing the rest of the hay into the stable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking about bringing in some old characters into the next chapter and I'm setting a target of a chapter a day:)


	8. Gratuit

"Are you sure you're ready?" Alana asked, rubbing circles on Margot's back. 

The green eyed woman smiled, her perfectly formed corners of her mouth curling up sweetly. 

"I'm ready." 

Although Alana was the one asking the question, she was the one who wasn't ready. She was willing to do anything to make sure that Margot could have her baby and that Mason ended up out of the picture, but Hannibal still continued to awake the pit of fear buried at the bottom of her stomach with every comment, look, breath that he aimed at her. Usually, the brunette was quite confident, she was good at putting up a front, especially lately. She had noticed that she had become increasingly better at putting on a fake smile around Mason since she had become involved with Margot. Every remark that her brother made about her made Alana want to snap his neck, but she could hold in her emotions well enough for them to be barely noticeable to a narcissistic psychopath. Despite all of this, the psychiatrist still struggled to stay strong around this man. She had made herself vulnerable to him by being romantically involved with him. When two people are together romantically, the general safety and security that they experience causes them to reveal their deepest thoughts. 

It had clearly been a one way feeling for Alana. 

Hannibal hadn't revealed anything to the very end. 

Doctor Bloom hadn't worked out whether his actions were simply those of a satyromaniac or a simple strategy to get closer to Will and provide him with a helpful alibi. Either way it was clear that she had been used against her will by Hannibal and even though she had now lost all feelings for him, she did want to understand him. His motives were not yet clear. What made him want to kill all of those people? What made him want to hurt Will? There were so many unanswered questions that led to Alana willing for him to stay alive for longer, despite the emotions she felt towards him. She didn't hate him. She was curious about him, as well as hurt. 

So that's why Alana was the one who took the deep breath when she pushed open the farm door. It was why she was the one who felt the bigger need for support. 

Even the easiest of tasks, such as breathing, caused her a stupendous amount of effort. 

"Alana?" Margot placed a hand on the woman's back, noticing that she was leaning on her cane. 

Alana brought her head up to look at her and stayed quiet for a minute before replying. 

"I'm fine. My back just hurts a little bit." she lied, continuing to walk on, trying to steady her breathing. 

Margot walked behind her in a hesitant manner, seeing through all of the walls that Alana was trying to put up so prevent anybody seeing into her true thoughts, her fear of the things Hannibal was going to say, what he was going to do. 

As they walked deeper into the farm, the sound of pigs grunting was the only sound to be heard, other than the tapping of Alana's cane, but the animal's squeals of fear had successfully drowned out her shallow breaths and grinding of her teeth. 

"He's just through here." Margot signalled towards the narrower passage. 

The blue eyed woman nodded, her face expressionless as she approached where Hannibal had been oppressed to. 

As soon as Alana laid eyes on the sight before her, she suddenly relaxed a significant amount. 

He looked tired. 

So very, very tired. 

His limbs laid weak, his head drooping in defeat. 

"Made any friends?" his former friend asked, her voice more confident than Margot expected. 

"Alana," Hannibal said, his voice dry, as he lifted his head, "Pigs are not worthy friends. They're solely bred to be eaten." 

"I didn't think they would be up to your palette's high standards." Alana raised her eyebrow, taking another step closer to him. 

"All I ever ate were pigs, Alana. If not physically, my meals were certainly holding a resemblance to a pig through their thoughts." 

They all stayed quiet for a moment until Hannibal opened his mouth to speak again. 

"Margot. I see you haven't yet killed your brother, much to my dismay I must say. Although I do admire the man's endurance and self-confidence." 

"Remind you of yourself?" Margot smirked, stepping forward so she was aligned with Alana. 

"He's not too great at cooking," Hannibal replied, confirming that he did not in fact believe that Mason was anything like him, "Now, do I kill him or do you?" 

"Neither of us do," she paused, "Yet." 

Hannibal smirked weakly, his hands pulling lightly on their restrictions as he leaned his head a little further towards the two women. 

"Then to what reason do I hold this pleasure?" 

"How much do you know about sperm?" Alana asked, tilting her head. 

"Sperm?" Hannibal raised his eyebrow, "What information do you need about it?" 

"How to harvest it." Margot replied. 

"From a human?"

"From the Verger heir." 

"Ah," Doctor Lecter finally understood what was being asked of him, "for a new Verger heir."

Margot nodded. 

"And at what advantage will I be at by helping you out? A small loosing of my ropes? Another conversation? From where I am sitting, I don't appear to have a significant reason to assist you." Hannibal's voice wasn't riddled with hatred, nor was it mocking the two women, it was a statement of defeat. Although it may not have seemed like it, Hannibal appeared to be on the verge of giving up. 

"What reason do you have not to?," Alana asked, "If you help you will be left here, same as you were before, so what difference will it make?" 

"That's exactly my point. If I were to help you, it seems like a significant amount of effort on my behalf when I could simply stay here." 

"With the pigs." Margot said. 

"Chained up." Alana added. 

"Without the company of two women that have managed to successfully overtake me through the terms of power. Who would want to spend time with those superior than them? That is why children hate school, is it not?" Doctor Lecter asked. 

"So what if I were to say that there was a benefit on your behalf?" Doctor Bloom took a step forward, bending down to be face to face with the capture. 

"That depends on what the benefit is, Doctor Bloom, I wouldn't want to pass up on an opportunity." a smile tugged on the corners of his mouth. Not one of happiness, but one of mischief. 

"If you tell us how to harvest the sperm and promise to take Will away, far away, away to safety, then I can offer you freedom," Alana began, "Break any of the promises and I'll make sure you're killed, Hannibal." 

The smile on Hannibal's face grew. 

"Stimulate his prostate gland with a cattle prod. That way you can gather his sperm." Doctor Lecter said, confirming his agreement to this plan. 

"A cattle prod?" Margot was now much more interested, also taking a closer approach. 

"Acts like an animal, treat him like an animal." he stated, his voice dark and deep. 

Margot nodded, she didn't have a problem with this plan, she just didn't want to fall into any traps that Hannibal could be laying out. 

"Why does Will need to be taken away? It was clear that he wasn't going to get away a free man, but his death wouldn't give Mason the full affect he wanted, I'm sure of it." Despite the man being a psychopath, the way he spoke about Will had a hint of concern. 

"Mason wants his face," the psychiatrist sighed "His literal face, he is going to get it stitched onto what is left of his." 

"I get freedom?" Hannibal seemed more urgent now. 

"Completely."

"Deal." Hannibal agreed. 

Just as Alana began to stand, Margot spoke up. 

"But don't kill Mason," her voice was sharp, "We need him still... and besides, you did say it would be more therapeutic for me to do it myself." 

"I wouldn't take away the pleasure," Hannibal laughed, "Although there does seem like there would be something satisfying about slicing into his dirty flesh." 

"Hannibal." The brunette's voice was stern. 

"I'll take Will and leave, but first I need to get out of here." 

Alana nodded. It had grown dark outside and therefore the chance of Hannibal being seen was little to none. The situation of the guard had been solved earlier on in the day. A simple bullet to the head struck him down. 

He wouldn't have stood a chance against Hannibal.

"I'll leave you this knife and I will leave. After I have cut your hands free." Alana explained. 

"I only need you to cut one free. Don't make it too easy for me." 

Before the woman did what was needed, she sighed. 

"Could I have ever understood you?" her voice was soft, leaving Margot to take a step back to leave them to converse. 

"No." 

She gave a sad nod and proceeded to cut one of his hands free, placing the knife on the ground and taking her cane, walking back out of the far, Margot by her side, helping to keep her mind at rest simply by her presence. 

"A cattle prod." Margot said, turning to look at Alana before looking away again. 

"Then we kill him." Alana kept her eyes forward, pushing the door of the farm open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This wasn't a very good chapter, but I'm planning to add lots and lots of fluff into the upcoming chapters, especially after they follow through with their plans.


	9. étincelle

It had been precisely 4 days since the pair had been to see Hannibal together, and in such a short period of time, the amount they had achieved was most certainly impressive. 

Not only had Alana managed to milk Mason, she had also ensured that Will would be kept out of harms way for longer, with the simple distraction of money. Margot had once said to her that she has never seen Mason love, but his love for money was most definitely towering above any emotions he could feel towards any human; which is why Doctor Bloom had interested him in an investment that would ignite a zoo of greed to rampage through his brain. She knew that Will wouldn't have the blessing of 'protection' for much longer, but a few days would bide them enough time to rid the Earth of Mason. 

Yes, the planning took longer than the actual action of harvesting Mason's sperm but they wanted to make sure they got it all right, reducing any risks of them getting caught. They couldn't improvise their actions and ruin what they had in front of them, so instead they waited until 3 days after they had spoken to Hannibal before they got what they needed. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
*2 days earlier* 

"I know it's not easy Margot, but it's only a few more hours, and then we will have what we need," Alana brushed her delicate hand down Margot's arm, sending sparks up the Verger sister's spine, "I'm sorry to make you wait, but it's better to get it done later and make sure we do it right. You want a baby Margot. We need to get it right." 

Margot sighed. She had waited years for the opportunity to rid the world of Mason, and now it was well within reach, but a few more hours felt like eternity. 

"I know, it just seems so long." she pushed herself from her leaning stance against the kitchen counter and wandered towards the excessively large leather couch that her father had bought many years ago. 

"Just a few more hours for a whole lifetime of happiness with a baby, Margot." Alana's voice was full of hope for Margot's future. The future she deserved. 

A small smile danced across Margot's lips as she heard the word "Baby". She would be a parent. A mum. She would have a child who she would cherish, love, care for- all because of Alana. Granted, she wouldn't carry the baby, nor would she be contributing to the biological side of things, but she had come to know that biology means nothing in terms of family. Mason wasn't her brother, he was her restraint, and there was no way that she would let her own child get into the same situation she was in. 

"You're right," she said, watching Alana as she approached the very area she was sat, "Just a few more hours." 

"Meanwhile," Alana smirked, swinging her leg over Margot and straddling her, "Let me distract you." She placed her lips onto Margot's neck, her tongue working in circles. 

Margot worried her bottom lip between her teeth, arching her back to push their bodies closer. 

"God, yes." she breathed. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

During the time Alana had been working hard to keep Will out of harm's way and distract her brother, Margot had been hard at work looking into her brother's business. She knew that it wouldn't be long until Mason was dead and so she wanted to make sure that she would definitely get to take over and for that to happen she needed to make sure that she knew the ins and outs of the place. She had been able to learn pretty fast with a small dig through her brother's emails and where his bank payments were going. Margot had found out the business' financial situation, their competition, the statistics and future plans of the place within a matter of minutes. 

"Who needs the FBI when we have you around?" Alana chuckled, sitting on the edge of the desk that Margot was using as hers. 

"Funny you mentioned the FBI actually," Miss Verger removed her glasses from her face and instead placed them in her hair, "Jack Crawford called me to ask why he hadn't managed to get through to you. He must have been pretty desperate to call at your patient's home."

The psychiatrist sighed, crossing her legs over and leaning further back onto her hands. 

"I've been ignoring his calls." she admitted.

"Why?" Margot questioned, leaning closer to Alana, making sure she knew she could trust her. 

"He only calls to question me. How am I doing? Have I had contact with Hannibal Lecter? Do I still use my cane?" she rolled her eyes and relaxed her shoulders. 

Margot chuckled. 

"You sound like a teenager," she laughed, "Have you told him that you don't have to rely on your cane much anymore?" 

"I feel like a teenager- and no, I haven't. He only wants to know so he can decide whether or not he thinks I'm capable enough of being sent back out into the World with his requests strapped to my back. No. I don't want to get back into his line of fire again." Alana shook her head, her brown waves brushing across her shoulders, a few strands escaping and tumbling down her back.

"Jack didn't ask Hannibal to kill all of those people, Alana." Margot placed a gentle kiss on the brunettes shoulder. 

"I know. But he was the one who sent Will out there. He was the one who made him lose his mind." she said, leaning into Margot's gentle kisses. 

"I doubt that was his intention," her lips had now left Alana's shoulders and had snaked towards her neck, her hot breath against Alana's bare skin caused her heart to race , "he just wants to know how you are." 

"Okay, okay, I'll call him," Alana said, her breath's were shallow, "But later."

She pushed herself off of the desk and took Margot by the hand, leading her up the stairs and into her room, closing the door behind her and turning once again to look at her. Her eyes took in every inch of Margot's figure as she stood in the gleam of moonlight that was entering into the room, admiring her pure beauty and delicate features. 

Margot smiled at Alana's undressing eyes and rough breathing, noticing her clenching her jaw after biting her lip. It would be an understatement to say that she was aroused by her movements, but she needed a few more moments to appreciate the purity of the woman in front of her. 

"Alana," Margot took a step closer to her, "You're staring." 

When she snatched her eyes away from the woman's body, Margot realised how Alana's gaze was filled with lust, making her body burn with desire and her stomach to twist. 

She loved the way that the brunette had such an effect on her. It also terrified her knowing that she was falling for somebody so quickly. This wasn't part of her plan. She had always been alone, whether she as in a relationship or not didn't effect her. But Alana was different. The way she made Margot feel was nothing like she had ever experienced with anybody else. 

"You're stunning." Alana finally uttered, setting off fireworks in Margot's stomach. 

She guided her backwards, gazing into her piercing green eyes before placing a gentle kiss on her lips and lowering her onto the bed. Their lips were still locked, this time more hungry than gentle, but it wasn't filled with just lust, there was something else there. Something soft and meaningful about the way their lips connected. 

"Margot." Alana said, breaking the kiss. 

"Mhm." she replied, a little disappointed that their lips were no longer brushed against eachother. 

Alana gave no reply, instead she just gazed into Margot's eyes, communicating without speech. 

"I know." Margot whispered back, pulling Alana's lips back onto hers. 

By now the psychiatrist had straddled Margot and kept their waists firmly pressed together, one of her hands pressing gently on her lover's hip, the over used to steady her. 

"You need to get out of this blouse." she tugged at the white fabric that covered where Alana really wanted to be, slowly unbuttoning them, making Margot squirm. 

"Alana." her voice sounded like a plea, but Alana ignored her, still going at a slow pace. 

When she unbuttoned the last barrier, she stroked down Margot's body, feeling her tremble beneath her frame as she arched her back to shrug off the blouse. Alana took this opportunity to unclasp the woman's bra, throwing it carelessly over her shoulder and taking her breasts in her hands. 

Margot let out a deep moan, savouring the feeling of Alana's flesh against hers as she tried to push her hips closer to hers, but Alana held her down gently, making sure she could take her time, kissing down Margot's body, rolling her tongue across her raised nipples, exploring her body with her mouth. 

Margot's hands tangled into Alana's hair, dragging her back up for a deep kiss, tasting her sweet lips against her own and biting gently on her lip. 

Alana went back down her body again, slightly faster this time, but still too slow for Margot's liking, who was guiding her down to where she wanted her the most. 

"Be patient." Alana smiled, restraining Margot's hands above her head with the belt she had just been wearing. She checked the woman's expression to ensure she wasn't putting her in any discomfort, before continuing on her path. 

She slowly unzipped Margot's skirt, her lips still sucking on the top of her thighs as she dragged it down her legs, tossing it aside. 

"Alana please." she managed to utter, her body radiating with heat, not sure on how much longer she would be able to take Alana's teasing. 

Alana smirked, unbuttoning her own blouse and shrugging it off before stepping out of her trousers and unclasping her own bra. Margot watched in awe as she longed to touch the warm skin that was on top of her, wanting to feed her draining hunger for Alana- but the belt had restricted any of the movements she craved, so instead she rolled her hips against hers, arching her back at every kiss, touch, breath that she felt on her body, feeling Alana slide her underwear down her legs and replacing it with the flat of her tongue, only licking it once before kissing her inner thighs, making sure Margot had to wait before she got what she had wanted. 

"Fuck." Margot moaned as Alana's tongue circled her clit, sending sparks to fire up her body. 

"Just tell me what you want." Alana smiled mischievously, her hot breath hovering over Margot's centre. 

"You, Alana," she arched her back again, "I want you." 

With that, the brunette smirked, placing her tongue where Margot wanted it most, swirling around her clit, getting faster with every moan that escaped her mouth as she rolled her hips against Alana's tongue, no longer being able to speak. 

"Fuck, Alana." Margot bit down hard on her lip, feeling herself reach the edge. 

With one more flick of her tongue, she felt Margot release beneath her, replacing her tongue with her fingertips and making her way back up to her mouth to kiss her, letting her taste herself. When her eyes eventually fluttered back open, she untied the belt, kissing her wrists gently and stroking her hair. 

"You okay?" she asked, noticing that Margot hadn't spoken for a while. 

"Better than okay." she grinned, pulling Alana in for another kiss. 

"Sure?" Alana smiled. 

"I'll prove it." she smirked, hovering over Alana and placing her lips on her neck. 

"Please do."

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So it's done." Alana smiled.

"We can get rid of him." The taller woman returned the smile, wandering with Alana into Mason' study. 

"That's the plan."


	10. Kairos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kairos: the perfect, delicate, crucial moment; the fleeting rightness of time and place that creates the opportune moment for words, actions and movements.

The weather had been ironically fitting as the two women burst into the room. 

The trees had been blown so far backwards they had nearly snapped, leaves ripping from the desperate branches, suffocating the ground as they fell, covering almost everything in sight. The rain hadn't arrived yet, but the looming darkness of an overhead cloud dangerously waited to cry on everyone below it. Occasionally a small, almost silent, whistle could be heard, seeping through the glass panes, encouraging the silk curtains to shake gently, causing all sorts of shapes to form shadows over the mass amount of furniture. 

And even though the weather seemed terrible, something more gruesome was sat inside. Mason Verger; Like an unwanted creature, currently screaming for Cordell, his face smothered in blood, his movements mostly sudden jerks or as close as he could get to struggling. Having still not noticed the two women, his pitched reached a higher point, on the verge of desperation. 

Alana couldn't help but allow a smug smile to reach her lips, enjoying the amount of mental pain Mason was in. She had come to notice that she had a genuine hate towards this man. He was the first person she really hated. There had been people that she would rather not encounter on a daily basis; but most of them were petty enemies, people who she had faltered in trust. She didn't even hate Hannibal. He had hurt her- more than hurt her- but in some twisted way, Alana really did believe that he did consider her, even if it were just for a split-second. 

But Mason- he was a monster. There was nothing he had done to her had made her feel such an immense amount of anger, but the thought of him even breathing the same air as Margot made her skin crawl. She had seen the looks, the faded bruises, the scars- all of which he had inflicted upon her, and she knew that was enough to hold a gun to his head and pull the trigger. However, she was willing to let Margot have the pleasure of annihilating the beast, understanding that this was the only way his sister would ever achieve closure, justice, for what he had done to her. 

So that's why she smiled. She knew that within a matter of minutes Margot would finally be free from his invisible, suffocating grasp and there was nothing she wanted more than to see the look on her face once she had done it. 

Margot sneaked a unnoticeable glance in Alana's direction, observing the near-smirk that was dancing on her lips. All she wanted to do was keep her eyes fixed on the brunette's every movement, take in her beauty as she strolled so carelessly into the room, filled with shrieks. But she knew that if she did, then she wouldn't be able to get rid of the lingering problem- namely Mason. 

"CORDELL!" His voice was at an amusingly high tone as he screeched for his henchman, his level of desperation and terror appropriately off the chart. 

"Cordell is dead, Mason." Alana interrupted his next cry, her voice calm yet deep, filled with authority. 

Margot stepped to the side of her, a smirk now growing on her face as her brother's cries stopped, and instead he tried to compose himself into his stronger form, struggling to calm himself down. 

"Hannibal has gone, along with Will, nobody else is here, so there is no need to cry out." the psychiatrist continued, her hands still firmly grasping the object she had in her hand. 

It should be noted that at this point, neither Margot nor Alana had a plan for killing Mason. They had both agreed that, after the joint amount of time they had both been fantasising about killing him, a spontaneous plan wouldn't be hard to achieve, especially with them having to wait a few days until it was all okayed. Their anger had been further fuelled, slowly, but surely and so there was no way that they were going to let this offer slip. 

"So it's just the three of us?" Mason snarled, his voice still higher than it usually was, but no longer had a hint of urgency. 

"Well, no," Alana took a step forward, her every move filled with confidence, which Margot was definitely seeing, "there's four." 

She slid her hand from her back and held up the tube in front of Mason, still well within safe limits. 

"A Verger baby," Margot smiled, watching Mason become agitated in his wheelchair filled her with joy, "My baby." 

Alana smiled warmly towards Margot, hearing the happiness laced in her voice as she rolled the word "baby" off of her tongue with ease. Then she snapped her head back to the disgusting brother. 

"Oh, don't look so down Mason, you won't have to endure the sound of a toddler's footsteps, no, you won't have to endure anything." she breathed, her voice was a mixture of sarcasm and confidence. 

Mason looked frantically between the two women, trying to steer his wheelchair backwards, but he was well aware that there was nowhere for him to go. 

"Margot," he started, his voice shaking with a forced laugh, "We always were good siblings now weren't we? Always knew how to share."

Margot ignored his remark and further approached him, Alana keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn't get into harm's way, but also protecting the sample she had in her hand. 

Noticing that his sister had blatantly ignored him, his actions became desperate as he reached down and grabbed his gun. 

With that, Margot dived at him, pulling him out of his chair and plunging him through the clear glass below them, hearing the loud shattering as she shoved his head deeper under the water. Mason's muffled screams could barely have been heard from outside of the room, yet Alana had already placed the sample down safely and dashed to Margot's side, pulling her up safely from the water and pushing her hand down on top of Mason's head, watching his eye's widen in defeat as he realised he had finally been beaten. Then the eel came, slicing into his mouth, smashing into the back of his throat, turning the water into a scarlet red as it slithered gracefully around the destroyed body. The two women watched for a few moments until it had successfully dragged Mason's body towards the bottom of the water, leaving them to hear only the sounds of their own rapid breaths. 

Now their eye's were fixed on eachother. For a moment neither of them did anything, just stared at one another, listening to the relief in the form of breathing. But then Margot smiled- A smile that could only be described as victorious. 

Alana also felt a smile tugging at her lips as it finally sunk in that he was gone. Dead. 

"We did it." Margot managed to utter between her heavy breaths, clearly coming to an understanding as to what had just happened. 

"We did." the psychiatrist smiled back, watching Margot push herself to her feet and offer a hand to her to which she gratefully accepted. 

As their hands touched, Margot gently pulled Alana up, noticing a gash on her arm on the way. 

"Are you okay?" her smile dropped, bringing Alana's arm cautiously nearer to her, analysing her wound. 

"Yes, I'm okay," the brunette smiled, using her free hand to brush a stray hair away from Margot's face, "I'm more than okay." 

Margot's expression softened as she allowed a tiny smile to leap onto her lips, but she was still worried about Alana. 

"Let me find something to cover this hole with and then I'll get you bandaged up." she explained. 

She left Alana to stand in the middle of the room as she grabbed an old shelf from a long-gone bookcase and positioned it perfectly over the gap they had made, hoping that it would be strong enough to keep the eel inside of the tank, rather than escaping through the house. Although, she did expect that it would be occupied with Mason for the next few days, and by then she would have gotten it fixed. 

Margot turned her attention back to Alana, who now had blood dripping down her arm, despite trying to put pressure on it by pressing the hem of her dress tightly against it, exposing the top of her thigh. 

"Come on," Margot whispered, snaking her arm around Alana's waist and holding her arm gently, "Let's go get you cleaned up." 

She led her into the nearest bathroom and sat her on the edge of the bath as she rummaged through cabinets worth of Mason's medicine until she stumbled across a first aid kit. She placed it on the counter, stealing a glance at Alana through the mirror, before snapping it open and pulling out some cleaning alcohol, cotton wool and a bandage. Margot dabbed the cotton with the alcohol and spun around to face Alana. 

"It's going to sting." she warned, bending down to make herself at eye-level with her. 

Alana said nothing and instead just watched as Margot brought the cotton to her cut, softly wiping away the blood and checking for anymore class. 

Each stroke earned a small gasp, the alcohol seeping into the wound, stinging Alana's arm. 

"I'm sorry." Margot said sadly, meeting Alana's eyes. 

The patient had seen how Margot's face was filled with concern and gave a weak smile.

"Hey, I've been pushed through a window, this is nothing." she chuckled, trying to make light of the situation. 

Margot smiled in return, gently shaking her head before grabbing the bandages and once again lowering herself down to the wound. She placed a small amount of padding over the wound itself before lightly wrapping the white fabric around Alana's arm, making sure she didn't hurt her. 

Meanwhile, Alana's eyes were fixed on Margot's face, taking on her level of concentration as she circled her arm for the last time, slipping the end of the bandage into a secure position before her eyes met Alana's. 

Alana leaned forward, brushing her lips against Margot's allowing her eyes to fall shut for a short moment until their lips separated. 

"Thank you." Alana said softly, smiling at Margot who was once again gently pulling her up. 

"The bandage isn't too tight is it?" she checked, stroking over where she had covered. 

Alana shook her head and looked down at her dress, letting out a sad sigh. 

"I don't have anymore clothes here." she mumbled, trying to dab at her dress with a nearby sponge, but it was useless. 

"You can borrow mine, come on." Margot held out her hand and used her other one to remove the sponge from Alana's grasp. 

The psychiatrist took the woman's hand and let her lead her out of the bathroom and through the hallway, stopping to grab the sample and hand it to Margot. 

"I'll be right back." Margot promised, taking the sample from her hands and wandering off to place it back into it's incubated area. 

Alana stood, once again fidgeting with the hem of her dress which Margot quickly interrupted as she laced her fingers into hers. 

"Once it's properly washed it will be as good as new." the green eyed lady explained, leading her further down the corridor and towards the staircase. 

When they had reached the top of the stairs, Margot continued to walk Alana to her bedroom, flicking on the light-switch and closing the door behind them, abandoning Alana's delicate hand to pull the curtains shut before returning back to where she was previously stood. 

"Feel free to take what you want." Margot smiled, gesturing towards her wardrobe. 

Alana nodded and padded towards the mirrored surface, sliding open the door and looking in awe at the array of clothes and colours bursting in front of her eyes. 

"Woah." she breathed, much to the amusement of Margot who was slowly approaching the awed figure. 

She flicked through some of the clothes; blouses, dresses, skirts, you name it, it was there. 

Finally she took something out, sliding it off the hanger and taking it out from behind the door. 

Expecting a dress of some sort, Margot was surprised to find that Alana had opted for a plain white t-shirt that she had acquired years ago from a charity event she had been forced to attend. 

"What?" Alana asked, noticing the amused look on Margot's face. 

"Nothing," Margot smiled, stroking Alana's shoulder, "I just didn't expect you to pull that out." 

Alana jokingly rolled her eyes and started to shrug off her dress, wandering over to the bed and placing down the t shirt as she stepped out of her current clothing. Margot couldn't help but follow behind her, yearning to touch her delicate skin. 

She finally removed her dress fully and was about to pick up the t-shirt when she felt a pair of lips brush against the back of her neck and a pair of hands snake around her waist. 

"I'm meant to be getting dressed," she traced her fingers along Margot's arm, "you're making it increasingly difficult." 

"Good." Margot smirked brushing Alana's hair over one of her shoulders and placing more kisses down her neck and across her shoulder, her hands slowly moving up to play with the lace on the brunette's bra. 

Alana spun around, her face also fixed with a smirk. 

"You're wearing far too many clothes." she started to work at the buttons on Margot's blouse, leaving kisses on every part of newly uncovered skin she came across, causing Margot to gasp slightly at the intimacy of her touches. 

Alana quickly moved onto Margot's skirt, sliding it down her legs, not wanting to waste any time. She just wanted to feel Margot. The new Margot. She had no more restraints. She was finally free. 

"Alana," Margot whined as the psychiatrist left small marks up the column of her neck, pushing her gently back onto the bed and attacking her neck with her lips. 

She eventually managed to calm herself down as Alana removed her lips from Margot's neck and was about to continue elsewhere, but the other woman wasn't going to allow that. She flipped them over, earning a gasp from the woman beneath her as she straddled Alana's hips and smirked proudly. 

"Don't look so smug," Alana smiled, sliding her hand down to where Margot wanted her most, "I know what I do to you." She gently rubbed her through her underwear, already feeling the seeping wetness on her fingers, filling her centre with warmth as she heard the small moans that Margot was trying to hold in. 

"Alana.. this isn't.. fair." Margot finally managed to breathe out as Alana moved her hand in tight circles. 

"You're right," Alana husked, moving her hand away from Margot's centre, much to her disappointment, and instead wrapped her arms around Margot's waist, carefully enough not to catch the bandage, and flipped them over once again, letting her hand find it's way back to Margot's undies, "This is fair." 

This time Margot didn't protest, caught up in the pleasure that Alana was so good at giving her. Her touch worked miracles as she dug her nails into Alana's back, close to drawing blood, as the brunette ducked her head down, catching Margot's moans in a deepened kiss. Margot used her hands to unclasp Alana's bra, helping her out of it and taking her breasts into her hands, kneading them gently as Alana worked hard to try and remove Margot's bra, siding it off of her shoulders and throwing it aside, pressing herself closer to the woman beneath her and slowly trailing down her body, letting her hand stop the rhythm it was at, much to Margot's dismay, and took the lady's underwear in her mouth, dragging it down her beautifully shaped legs, not breaking eye contact. On her way back up her legs she peppered her calf with kisses, sometimes sucking a little too hard and leaving a mark, not that Margot cared, instead she tangled her hands in Alana's hair, pleading her to move faster up to where she needed her most. 

"Stop teasing." Margot moaned as Alana had managed to once again manoeuvre around her centre, her tongue only grazing her entrance. 

Alana smiled, still taking her time, but, without warning, began circling Margot's clit, lapping up her taste and letting her hand snake up to her breasts, playing with them. 

Heavy moans left Margot's mouth as Alana used her other hand to slowly slip two fingers into her, her pace getting faster with every moan she let out. The brunette smiled as the grip on her hair had tightened and her hips had bucked, slowly grinding against Alana's tongue as she hummed in approval, bringing her even closer to the edge than she was before. 

"Fuck.. Alana." Margot whimpered, her legs shaking and muscles tensing. 

"It's okay. Do it." Alana said, replacing her mouth with her thumb when she left her centre to speak. 

And with that Margot was sent tumbling over the edge, her muscles tensing, her eyes slammed shut. 

Alana slowed down her pace before coming to a halt, kissing her way back up to Margot's body, landing on her lips, slowly retracting her fingers and taking time to clean them thoroughly with her tongue when Margot's eyes finally fluttered open. 

"That was amazing." she said after finally getting her breath back. 

Alana responded by placing a loving kiss onto her lips before laying down beside Margot. 

"Today has been amazing." Alana said, brushing some hair away from her own face. 

"Your day is about to get better." Margot smirked, swinging herself back over onto Alana's lap, thanking her in the best way possible.


	11. La liberté

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Liberty: the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's behaviour or political views.

The first morning without the firm grip of Mason Verger lurking over the household felt like an immense sense of liberty. As Margot's eye's fluttered open, smile crept onto her lips, her eyes fixed on the brunette laid beside her, brown locks obscuring her face, one of her arms slipped under the pillow, her other hand was positioned just above Margot's head from where she had stroked her hair into a heavy sleep the previous night. 

Carefully wrapping the white sheet over the front of her body and sitting up gentle, being careful not to wake Alana. She had accidentally left the balcony doors open overnight, the soft breeze now blowing the delicate curtains further into the room, revealing the glistening of a variety of surfaces after the rain had fallen last night. The weather had appeared to have cleared up over-night. Not that Margot had at all been focusing on the weather as she was almost certain that even if the whole room had iced up, the heat from inside her bedroom would have melted it all away. 

She let her eyes wander around the room, glancing at the various pieces of discarded clothing, silently laughing at the sight of the grey t-shirt, that Alana had worked so hard to find, crumpled on the floor among the heap of other garments. 

Suddenly, she felt the brush of fingertips just down her back and a shuffle of movement behind her. 

"I'm sorry." Alana brought her lips up to Margot's ear, running her fingers across the red streaks she had made on her last night. 

Margot's eyes fell shut at the feeling of Alana's hot breath against her neck. 

"It's fine," she placed a peck on the brunette's lips, "I don't mind having a temporary reminder of last night." she grinned, tucking a stray hair behind Alana's ear. 

The psychiatrist replied to Margot's actions with a quick kiss on the cheek before slipping out of bed, throwing the over-sized t-shirt on over her bare body and wandered to the bathroom, leaving the woman's green eyes to follow her every movement, each step causing Margot's smile to grow wider, also slipping out of bed and sliding into her silk dressing gown that was hung on the back of her closed door. 

"So I was thinking," Alana called from the bathroom, just loud enough for Margot to hear, "after I've been to see my other patients, we could watch something." she emerged from the bathroom, her hair now pinned up. 

"Definitely." the horse rider smiled. 

"Good, but first I need to go home and feed the dog and grab some clothes." Alana explained, gathering up her crumpled clothes and turning back to Margot, who had thrown a pair of leggings at her. 

"Wear these for now"

The brunette smiled at Margot and finally picked up the blood stained dress. 

They both stopped to look at the garment that Alana held loosely in her grasp, her thumb rubbing over the fabric. 

"I'll get it washed for you today." Margot held her hand out for Alana to drop the dress into it, both of them now fully dressed. 

"Don't worry about it," she started, "I'll throw it in the washer when I get home." 

The other woman nodded and retracted her hand, following Alana as she padded gently out of the room, knowing that they no longer had to wait for the area to be clear. Nobody was there to give judgement- and what a liberating feeling that was. 

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, Alana paused to pull on her shoes, muttering something about leaving her keys upstairs and running off to get them, leaving Margot to wander down the hallway, running her fingers through her unstyled hair, not really worrying about her appearance as she knew that the doting brunette had seen her looking worse. Another reason was that she knew nobody would be coming over today because Mason had made sure that nobody would come over until he had recovered from his surgery. He especially didn't want any of his business partners from his company to appear unexpectedly. 

Her company. 

When she snapped herself away from her thoughts, she had come to the realisation that she had walked straight into the room she had been in last night, the shelf still aimlessly placed over the gaping hole they had made in the glass, shards still sprayed across the room. 

She cautiously walked over to the other side of the room, careful not to step on any of the sharp spikes due to the lack of shoes she had on her feet. The floor had drops of blood splashed upon it, reminding Margot of the wicked gash embedded on Alana's arm. She stood, staring towards the ground, her eyes fixed on the scarlet stars dotted around her. Then she felt tears spring to her eyes, surprising herself. 

Just then, she heard Alana plod back down the stairs and quickly wiped her eyes, aiming to remove any evidence of tears that had settled so dangerously. 

But she wasn't quick enough. 

The psychiatrist halted on the spot as she saw the tense shoulder's of the slim figure in front of her, hands rubbing at her eyes in a rapid motion and releasing a desperate breath. Alana approached her slowly, following to where her eyes had previously been positioned, trying to work out what had gotten her worked up so suddenly. Her eyes searched the ground before finally hovering over the splatters of blood that had dried on the floor. For the whole time Alana was exploring the surface with her soft, blue eyes, Margot had remained completely silent, worried that if she spoke, her voice would crack and give the game away, even though she had a nagging suspicion that Alana had already seen how discomforted she was. 

"What's wrong?" The doctor asked, looking at Margot with a soft expression. 

"Nothing. Just tired." Margot mumbled, trying to force a small smile. 

"Hey," Alana said, cupping the woman's face within her hands, "I'm a psychiatrist. I had to do a course in body language. Don't try and lie to me Margot. You can tell me what's wrong." 

"Well I'm not your patient." she replied, her voice sounding harsher than she intended as she brushed Alana's hands away from her face and looked back down at the floor. 

The brunette frowned, letting her hands drop to her sides as she tried to read Margot's emotions. 

"I know you're not," she started, her voice became more mumbled as she spoke the words: "I just wanted to make sure you were okay." 

Margot raised her head, a rush of guilt flowing through her body as she heard the hurt in the sweet girl's voice. 

"I'm sorry," she took a step closer to Alana, linking their hands together, "I'm just worried about bringing you into this. You've already been hurt and this all just the beginning of the problem." 

An unrecognisable emotion flashed across the blue eyed woman's face as she squeezed Margot's hands. 

"I'm not going anywhere," she smiled, "yes, there may be more to face in the future, but right now, you're free. Mason has gone, Cordell has gone, Hannibal has gone. You can have a baby now Margot. There isn't anything left holding you back. Don't let me be the reason you don't do as you wish," she stroked her thumbs across the back of Margot's hand, "We can do it together." 

Margot felt the tears welling back up in her eyes as she heard the soft voice's reassurance. 

"Together." she replied, a smile growing on her lips as she rested her forehead against Alana's.

They stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying the presence of one another- until Alana gave Margot's hands another quick squeeze and spoke. 

"Call me if you need me." 

Margot nodded in reply. 

"I'll be back by 7. Pick a film for later." the psychiatrist smiled, grasping her keys and phone, along with her bundle of clothes that she had now thrown into a bag.

"I will." she smiled back, watching Alana as she wandered back down the hallway and opened the door, waving her goodbye before she closed the door behind her and got into her car. 

Margot brushed the curtain away from the window and watched until the car disappeared from her sight, letting the curtain drop back to where it was and walking into the cupboard where the maid kept all of her cleaning equipment. She grabbed hold of the broom, mop and bucket before re-entering the room and filling the bucket with water, squirting some soap into the stream, causing foam to rise rapidly. She heaved the bucket up and placed it on the floor, leaving the mop to soak before she picked the broom up again and started to sweep all of the glass away, off the balcony, first making sure no unlucky victim was lurking beneath.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alana had pulled up to her house, throwing open the car door and fumbling with her keys, trying to find the right one to unlock her front door, simultaneously wandering closer towards her house. When she finally had the correct one, she slipped it into the door, turning it and pushing it open, hearing the patter of excited feet as Applesauce dived at her. 

"Hey girl." she smiled, bending down to greet her dog, who did the same with a mass of loving licks over Alana's face. 

The brunette giggled and made her way into the house, shutting the door behind her and throwing her keys on the side and placing her phone next to them. 

She took the bag of clothes she had in her hand and tipped all of the material out, stopping for a moment to glance at the blood stained dress before shoving it into the washing machine along with the rest of her garments. As she closed the machine and set it to the right mode, she heard a small metal clanging. The psychiatrist turned around to come face to face with Applesauce, who was now hungrily holding her food dish, her tag on her collar causing the clanging against the metal bowl. 

"I haven't forgotten." she laughed, grabbing the dog food from a small cupboard and began pouring the dish, the metallic sounds of the food hitting the bowl radiating through the house. 

She placed the dish down, much to Applesauce's excitement, and proceeded to make her way up the stairs, realising that, no matter how comfortable she may have been at that precise moment, it would look unprofessional to turn up at work wearing an oversized t-shirt and leggings that were too long for her. She let out a small sigh noticing that taking off the t-shirt would remove the lingering scent of Margot that so lovingly clung to her frame. 

She changed into a pair of tight black trousers, a dark red blouse and grabbed a black blazer for in case it got any colder before taking some more clothes and putting them in a bag, ready to take over to Margot's later. Trekking back down the stairs, she opened the back door and called Applesauce over, who had left through the dog-flap. 

"Come on girl, let's go for a walk." she scruffed the dogs head and attached her to a lead, stopping to pick up her phone and keys on the way out. 

Just as her phone was in her hand, she felt a gentle buzz on her palm as she glanced at the screen, on her way out of the door and locking it behind her, Applesauce following loyally by her side. Her eyes lit up as she saw Margot's name flash onto the screen. 

"How's my favourite pup?" she had asked. 

Alana chuckled, typing back her reply, before locking her phone again and slipping it into her pocket.  
"I'm assuming this was aimed at Applesauce, not me?" 

She led the way to the open field only a few minutes away from where she lived and unclipped her loyal companion from her restraints and let her run off through the long grass, occasionally seeing her head bob up and down from where she was stood. 

She pulled her phone back out of her pocket and checked it again, a smile fixed on her face. 

"Of course:)" she had replied. 

Alana whistled Applesauce back over, kneeling down next to her and snapping a picture. Both of them had their tongues hanging out, Alana crossing her eyes for the bonus effect and captioned it: "As mad as usual :P", pressing send. 

After around half an hour of running around after her dog and finding a respectable amount of sticks to throw for her, she clipped her back onto her lead and started her walk back home, chatting away to Applesauce as though she was going to reply. 

"I'll be back again later buddy, I promise." she planted a small kiss on Applesauce's head before grabbing her back of clothes and shutting the door behind her, once again, locking it. 

She started up her car and made her way to work, smiling at the most recent text from Margot. 

"That's one for the photo album." 

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They had spent a majority of the day messaging whilst they got on with what they had to do. 

Alana had seen all of her patients, Margot had cleaned all the house.

Then the clock ticked to 7 as Alana strolled through the door. 

She had been back home after work to go and see Applesauce, but there had been a change of plan. 

Margot had heard the door open and dropped everything she was doing to go and greet the brunette as she turned into the hallway, needing to see the brunette's smile after a stressful day. But instead of Alana being the person who greeted her, instead a happy bark echoed down the excessively large corridors as Applesauce darted over to Margot, nearly pushing her over. 

"Sorry," Alana began, placing down the dog supplies she had been carrying, "She's clingy." 

Margot smiled at Alana and then looked back to Applesauce. 

"You're okay aren't you Applesauce, you have more places to run here." she laughed playfully, kneeling down to the dog's height. 

"How's your day been?" Alana asked, approaching Margot, who had now straightened herself up and let Applesauce barge past her, down the corridor. 

"It's better now." she smiled, tangling her hands into the brunette's hair and pulling her in for a kiss, it wasn't hungry, just gentle, full of meaning. 

"What film are we watching then?" Alana asked, brushing past Margot, her hand intertwined with the other woman's, and stepped into the room. 

Her eyes lit up as she observed the pile of blankets, a few snacks and 'The little Mermaid' on pause on the TV. 

"Good choice." she smiled, pulling Margot in for another kiss.

**  
Alana had been laid on Margot's lap, who was gently stroking her hair, occasionally drawing subconscious patterns on the bottom of her back until she felt the psychiatrist's shoulders relax her breaths becoming steadier, her eyes slowly drooping. 

"Sleepy?" Margot whispered, leaning down to place a soft kiss on the outstretched figure. 

"Mhm." Alana mumbled, pushing herself up so that her head was buried in the crook of Margot's neck, her legs swung over her lap and her hands resting on Margot's stomach. 

"Let's get you to bed." the Verger daughter said softly, picking her up bridal style and carefully carrying her into the bedroom, laying her on the bed and covering her with the duvet, once again planting a kiss on her head. 

"I love you." Alana sleepily mumbled. 

For a moment, all of Margot's movements stopped, she had taken a sharp inhale of breath at the words she had just heard. This was the first time she had ever said it to her. 

But then she replayed the words in her head. 

Her shoulders relaxed, a smile crept back onto her face as her breathing regulated. 

"I love you too." she whispered back, before walking back out of the room, greeted by a tired Applesauce who was used to lounging in bed with her owner. 

"Go on then." she chuckled, gesturing to the bed which the dog happily jumped up on, resting at Alana's feet. 

Margot smiled at the picture in front of her. 

She loved Alana Bloom.


	12. Alimentaire

The force Applesauce had pushed onto her back feet as she launched herself off the bed at the disrespectful time of 7am had successfully woken Alana, who groaned at she glanced at the time. 

Her smile soon returned as she witnessed the impeccable beauty laid beside her, still soundly asleep, only stirring slightly when Alana, as quietly as possible, slipped out of the sheets, still dressed as she had been the previous day, but her hair hanging loosely in the style she had pinned it in before. She removed all of the pins, placing them on the beside table and ran her fingers through her brown locks, before lowering her fingers to her lips to signal Applesauce to be quiet. 

She clearly didn't understand the signal and jumped around excitedly, her nails making tapping noises with every slight contact she made with the ground. Alana sighed and opened the bedroom door, wincing at the creaking noises it echoed through the room, hastily closing it behind her again, watching her loveable little friend dart down the stairs as she reluctantly followed. 

Although the psychiatrist had been to visit this house enough times, she hadn't really thoroughly explored the grounds. It seemed immensely elaborate, despite the antique feeling it positively radiated. Yet there was something about some of the certain rooms that she had come across that seemed, in a sense, 'homely'. Whether it was because she had been in them with Margot, or if she had simply found herself a small token of what could have represented an ordinary life, she enjoyed those rooms much more than the house's most grand and expensive ones. Then there were the rooms that gave her an instant chill as she entered them, most of them belonged to Mason; his study, his room, his library-Anything that could have seemed beautiful to a stranger had the lingering branding of Mason's evil from Alana's perspective. 

She had an interminable curiosity about what other rooms may be scattered across the grounds, and that is probably why she didn't simply open the front door to let Applesauce out, she moved through the hallways and towards the back door, where she knew there were places she had not yet searched. To other people it may have come across as though the brunette was worried to find Mason lurking behind one of the closed doors, or maybe a hidden secret that she hadn't yet uncovered, but really she just wanted to know. She wanted to know where Margot grew up. She wanted to know why, she kept coming back here. Because she didn't know, not really. There were things that she had seen, things that she had experienced, that should have made her terrified of the house, but Margot was like a magnet who just kept drawing her back in. So, yes, she was aware that Margot was the reasoning behind a lot of the connection towards this house, but there was something else. Something she hadn't yet understood, so she took to exploration as her attempt of even the smallest of breakthroughs.

Before she even stepped into an unknown room, she slid the latch open on the back door and opened it wide, letting Applesauce charge into the yard to explore for a little while. She knew that she wouldn't venture too far, she wasn't that brave, so she left the door open and walked through into a room she was already familiar with- Mason's bedroom. She felt a chill shoot up her spine, bringing to attention the aching pain in her lower back as she rubbed her hips to try and ease the tightness locked into them, wondering whether the room was like an objective torture chamber for anybody brave enough to walk into it. 

Right now, Alana certainly wasn't feeling brave. The negative feelings that had just washed over her had nearly been enough for her to turn around and walk straight back out into the hallway, as far away from that room as possible. Nearly enough, but not quite. She took another step into this excessively decorated room, something you would expect to see in a King's chamber, which, Alana thought, was exactly how Mason viewed himself, despite his creature-like actions and ungodly motives behind all he did. The area was littered with unnecessary furniture, such as an eagle figurine, an over-sized chest that was simply for decoration, anything that could imply his excessive amount of wealth. 

A grand mahogany door stood proudly at the other side of Mason's room, urging Alana to walk on, her footsteps making no sound, adding to the exaggerated silence that had oppressed her from the minute she set foot in this range. She hesitated for a mere moment before grasping the handle and twisting it slowly, hoping that it wouldn't creak and wake up Margot, despite knowing that very little sound would be able to make it's way through the hallways and up the vast amount of steps. She felt like she was doing something she shouldn't be doing, although she knew that Margot wasn't likely to have a problem with it, especially after the three words had slipped out of her mouth last night. 

The thought of last night made her momentarily distracted. She was sure that Margot had heard her, there was no doubt about that, but she was not as certain on whether or not she had heard the words repeated back to her, or if it was simply her imagination taking over as she fell into a deep sleep. 

But it really was a momentary distraction, because within seconds she was taking a closer look at what she had just revealed. There, laid before her, was a box that read "MARGOT" scrawled in horrifying handwriting. Her first thought was that it could have just been an old box, reused for the sake of convenience; but then she was harshly reminded, by the inappropriately large safe, that Mason Verger did not work in the act of convenience. Her inquiring mind led her to opening the box, rooting through its contents, coming across various items such as delicate dolls, books and letters, most of them looked new, barely touched, apart from one book; 'The chronicles of Narnia.' She smiled to herself and began to flick through the pages, not really reading the book, just reminding herself of the plot. 

"What have you got there?" A voice came from behind her, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin, slamming the book shut. 

She spun around to face the figure, her whole face blushing red.

"Margot, I'm sorry I just wanted to have a look around I didn't--" 

"Hey," Margot spoke softly, approaching Alana in a pair of boy shorts and a t-shirt, "You don't have to explain yourself. 

"I'm sorry." the brunette repeated, looking down at her feet, the book still in her hands. 

"Don't be," her voice was so sweet that Alana felt her stomach flip as Margot sauntered closer to her, taking the book from her hand gently and, as the psychiatrist had previously done, began flicking through the pages, a small smile dancing on her lips, "This was my favourite." 

Alana brought her head up, seeing the genuine joy painted on Margot's face as she skimmed over the pages of a childhood book.

"Why is it in here?" she asked, stroking down the side of the woman's hip as she closely studied the front cover. 

"Mason used to take some things off of me when I broke the rules. Usually they were just new toys, dolls, that sort of thing, but one day, when I had really frustrated him, he took my book. He said if I told anybody he would feed me to the pigs." A flash of hurt darted across Margot's eyes as she told Alana this, causing the smaller one of them to place a sympathetic kiss on Margot's cheek. 

"Read to me." she said, simply, leaning her head on her shoulder. 

Margot seemed completely taken aback by this request. Nobody had ever asked her to do something so intimate with them. She never for once believed that anybody would want to sit and listen to her talk for an extended amount of time, whether they were close or not. 

"Okay," she beamed, wrapping her free hand around Alana's waist and pulling her closer to her own body, "But not here. In my room." she explained, both of them silently agreeing that Mason's room would not hold the most relaxation that they could receive- if any at all. She released Alana from her arm as she went to go and call for Applesauce, who, by now, was near to exhausted from the amount of running around she had just partaken in. Whilst the psychiatrist wandered back up the stairs, yawning slightly, her dog by her side, Margot packed the box away again, taking care to gently stroke some of the contents before closing the cupboard and walking back out of the room and down the corridor, all the way up the stairs and back into the bedroom she had been in just minutes before now. 

Alana yawned again, still tired from being woken up that early in the morning, feeling her muscles instantly relax, her back feel much more comforted as soon as she hit the bed. 

"You sure you want me to read to you now? You look tired." Margot said, slipping into bed next to her and stroking her brown hair in a soft manner. 

"Shh. Read to me." Alana hushed, already nuzzling into Margot, clearly not planning on staying awake to hear this story. 

"Okay." Margot placed a small kiss on the top of Alana's head, earning her a sleepy smile, before she began to read the book, continuously drawing patterns on the small of the brunette's back as she did so. 

*********

Alana had been asleep for around 2 hours before she ventured down the stairs to be hit by the strong smell of bacon. 

"Food?" she managed to ask through her sleepy state of mind as she entered the kitchen. 

Margot beamed at Alana and ran over to her, planting feathery kisses all over her face, much to Alana's surprise. 

"Woah, what was that for?" the brunette laughed. 

"Hannibal's plan worked, Lana," the shortened version of her name somehow made a smile grow on Alana's face, "they think that he killed Mason. The police came over whilst you were asleep and said that they had found traces of his hair on Hannibal's clothes that he had left behind. We are completely free Alana." she hugged her tightly. 

"Really?!" she asked, her voice full of excitement but also the shock of how fast they had managed to clear themselves. 

"Yes, and they said that they won't be questioning it any further, Hannibal is due to be locked up any day now, so it wasn't even given a second thought." she smiled. 

To ordinary people, this may have seemed like the happiness of two murderers that had gotten away with killing a man and managed to frame somebody else. But to them, they knew they weren't murderers. Technically, yes, they were, but morally, they were really just helping the World out by ridding the Earth of this horrible man, and finally feeling a sense of justice raining through their bodies as they practically jumped for joy. 

"So what now?" Alana asked, pulling Margot into her embrace, earning a cute giggle. 

"Now food." she grinned, tearing herself away from Alana, must to her dismay, and continued to cook. 

"I didn't know you could cook." the brunette admitted, sliding her arms around Margot's waist. 

"I can't." she laughed in reply.

"Yes, that food does look questionable." Alana said, joining in with the laughter. 

"Fancy going out someplace instead?" she asked, already starting to throw away the food that had been in the pan, Applesauce's eyes following her every movement, despite having already been fed not too long ago. 

"Where?" Alana asked, leaning against the kitchen worktop. 

"How about that place that we went to before, when we took a detour in the car? The woods. The French one?" she racked her brain trying to think of the name. 

"Chaleur," Alana replied embarrassingly fast, "Chaleur Woodlands." She had remembered the name since the day they had been there. 

"It's a date." Margot smiled, before placing a small kiss on Alana's burning cheek and brushing past her to go and get changed out of the clothes she had slept in.


	13. Bois

Not for one moment did Doctor Alana Bloom think that she would be sat across the table, from a beautiful woman, who she was slowly falling deeper in love with, after every touch, breath or conversation they shared. Yet there she was, sat at a table, in what could appropriately be described as a glass dome, surrounded by the woodland scenery and sitting opposite Margot Verger, the woman who had stolen her heart.

On the way to the restaurant, they had dropped off Applesauce back at Alana's house, letting her settle down by the fire, before driving off towards the 'Chaleur', Margot's hand intertwined with Alana's as the brunette kept her other hand rested on the steering wheel, happy to just be within touching distance of Margot. The journey had been relatively quiet, yet comfortable, as they had found the balance between talking and just simply being.

Now, despite the beauty surrounding them, both women struggled to tear their eyes away from eachother. Margot was positively mesmerised by the baby blue shine of Alana's orbs, contrasting beautifully with her hazel hair. It took more will power than she could ever imagine to stop her from pulling the psychiatrist into a deep kiss and never letting her go, but nevertheless, she had come here to celebrate with the only person she would want to share her success with and she intended to enjoy every minute of it. 

"And then they just dropped it?" Alana smiled, taking another sip of her coffee, the mug warming up her hands. 

The horse-rider nodded in reply, smiling back. 

"No wonder they can't catch Hannibal," the brunette laughed, "they're so easy to fool." 

Margot joined in with the laughing, she had never been happier than she was in this moment. She had always imagined the after-party of Mason's death to be a financial success, freedom to do what she wanted with the mansion; it had never occurred to her that she would find somebody like Alana. She had only known her for a few months, but she felt so strongly about her, especially at that moment. She hadn't put on any makeup, her hair was tumbling past her shoulders, her clothes were casual, yet she was like the embodiment of an angel. 

"Well, what did you expect? From what I've heard, Hannibal had been a great help to the FBI whilst he was working with Will." she continued to smile. 

"Ironic really," Alana crossed her legs and leaned in further, "he caused so much trouble for the FBI, all of them murders, all of the immense confusion, yet he still managed to help catch all of those people." 

"He practically led the FBI to himself." Margot also leaned in. 

"I don't think that was his intention," the psychiatrist laughed, feeling tingles shoot up her spine from their legs brushing against eachother. "He just got too close to Will, couldn't let him go." 

"You know," Margot began, "I always thought that he was gay." she admitted. 

Alana raised an eyebrow. 

"He definitely pulled the wool over my eyes." she laughed. 

"He just seems excessively interested in Will," the green eyed woman explained, "something must have happened between them." 

Margot watched as Alana leaned back, head tilted at a slight angle as though she were in deep thought. 

"He did obsess over him." she said finally. 

Margot couldn't help but laugh. It were as though the brunette had just had a sudden realisation, she seemed utterly shocked at the information she had just unveiled. Whether or not it was accurate was beyond their knowing, but it was something fun to think about whilst they enjoyed the company of eachother. She allowed her to think it through some more before replying. 

"Don't look so shocked. He was probably bi, he seemed pretty involved with you." she laughed. 

"I'm not so sure," Alana's voice still sounded like she had seen God, "he did have a good fashion sense." 

Margot nearly spat out her drink. 

"Then that proves it then," she got her breath back, "you dated a gay man." 

"I sure do know how to pick them." Alana laughed, taking another sip from her coffee. 

"I'm interested," Margot leaned even further in, "What other guys have there been?"

"Guys?" Alana raised her eyebrow. 

Margot's mouth dropped open. 

"I'm even more interested now." 

"I was once with this girl called Charlotte," she began, "we kept most of the relationship behind closed doors, although it was quite serious, two years. I was only young, it was one of my first proper relationships. I hadn't told my family about her, they wouldn't have had a problem with me dating a woman, I just didn't want to ruin what we had, but eventually, after about a year, it didn't look like we would be breaking up anytime soon, so I decided it was the right time to introduce her to the family." 

"Oh right?" Margot was fully intrigued by now. 

"So I took her over to my Mum's house on Christmas day. Everybody was there, my brothers, their families, my parent's siblings. Everybody. Even their pets came along with them," Alana explained, "It all went perfectly, my family all loved her from the start, so I started to bring her to family gatherings more often, I had no reason not to anymore." 

"Sounds like a success to me." the taller woman smiled, knowing that there was more to the story. 

"Right?!" Alana exclaimed, as though she were trying to justify why she had stayed with her, "And then one day I had an appointment with a patient, it was a home visit, and when I put their address into the satnav, it said that I would be passing my uncle's house, and I knew that he was having a little celebration after having a promotion, so I set off early and planned to pop it before work. So on my way over I parked down the road from the house, making it easier for me to drive onwards afterwards, so I didn't make any noise until I opened the door. The house was mostly filled with his workmates, he wasn't married so he didn't have anybody else there really, apart from a couple of his neighbours. When I asked where he was, nobody really knew, so I hung around for a little while, before I got short on time and didn't want to risk being late, so I searched upstairs and walked into his bedroom. And there she was. With my uncle. In bed." 

"Jesus." Margot breathed out, leaning back in her chair. 

"They had been sleeping with eachother since last Christmas, getting together most times I had an appointment." Alana didn't seem hurt, she barely even seemed angry, she just said it as though she had just taken her pencil. 

"I'm sorry that happened." Margot said sympathetically. 

"It's fine. I fucked her brother and got over it." she shrugged. 

"Well," Margot laughed, "As long as it worked." 

"It certainly did." 

**

Throughout the rest of the time they spent at the restaurant, they spoke freely about their past, as though they had known eachother for years. They shared small happy memories, hurtful memories, funny memories and, no matter what the story was, they both listened delicately, showing a genuine interest to the other. 

Before they left, the two women walked hand in hand through the greenery, deciding to sit down on the stone bench near the gently flowing stream, glistening like glitter had been poured into it. 

"Thankyou for today." Alana smiled, letting her head drop onto Margot's shoulder. 

"My pleasure." Margot replied, lacing her fingers with the brunette's. 

"I haven't smiled so much in a long time." the psychiatrist admitted, slipping off her shoes and letting her feet settle in the stream. 

"Me neither." she followed Alana's actions, enjoying the feeling of the waves brush against the bottom of her feet. 

They stayed like that for a while until Alana removed her feet and slipped them back into her shoes. 

"Are you ready to go?" 

Margot smiled and nodded, taking her shoes in her hand and taking Alana's palm in her other. They walked together to the car and started the drive back to Margot's house. 

Alana had never told anybody, that she had dated, about Charlotte before. She didn't want to appear wounded and too weak to trust. But Margot... Margot was different. She trusted her with her life, not concerned about whether or not that was going to come back and bite her in the future, before right now, she felt happier than ever. She was suddenly prepared for anything that was going to be thrown at them, because she knew for definite that their relationship wasn't going to be easy, not with everything that complicated it, but Alana was willing to fight with all her heart. She really did love her. 

"I love you." Alana blurted out as soon as she pulled up at the house. 

For a couple of seconds she didn't get a reply, Margot's head remained leant against the car window. The brunette started to think she had made a mistake. But her worries were soon cut short when Margot beamed at her, pulling her closer to her into a deep kiss. 

"I love you too." she whispered, her forehead resting on Alana's. 

The psychiatrist smiled back at her, tucking a stray hair behind her ear. 

"So..." Alana said, looking down at Margot's lips, "Are we official?" 

"I'm ready if you are." Margot replied, placing a small kiss on the brunette's lips. 

"Yes. I'm ready." she smiled. 

"Good," Margot's hand fell onto Alana's shoulder, "In return, I promise not to sleep with your uncle." 

"I appreciate it." she laughed her sweet laugh. 

They shared smiles before Alana spoke again. 

"I had better get to my next appointment." she sighed, stroking her hand down Margot's arm. 

"Call in sick." Margot whined, pulling her in for another kiss that Alana couldn't refuse. When she fully pulled away, the brunette considered staying with Margot all day, just talking about anything and everything. 

"I can't lose my patient's trust." she replied sadly. 

"Hmmm okay." the Verger daughter said, opening the door. 

"I love you." Alana repeated as she stepped out of the car. 

"I love you too." Margot smiled back, shutting the door behind her and watching as Alana waved her goodbye before reversing and driving away.


	14. Colère

It had been a few days since Margot had seen Alana, and despite being suffocated with immense pile of work, mostly to do with her company, she hadn't failed to notice the lack of contact her and Alana were having.

That's why, at around 11pm on a dark night, the last person she expected to knock on her door was Alana. Yet there she was, soaked in rain, her clothes clinging delicately to her frame, her hair sticking to her face. Margot opened the door, her glasses brushed back into her hair, still not tearing her eyes away from her book until she heard the brunette's voice. 

"Hello." her voice broke the silence, a sheer whisper. 

"Alana," Margot chirped, her voice more excitable than she first intended, but then decided that it didn't matter, "Why are you so wet?"

"I was stood there for a while, listen to me." the psychiatrist explained, stepping into the house, her arms still wrapped around her body. 

"You should have knocked as soon as you got here, Lana, we are in the middle of a storm." the green-eyed woman wrapped Alana into a blanket, rubbing her shoulders gently. 

"You're not listening to me." 

Margot became suddenly aware of how desperate the brunette sounded, her eyes clouded as though she had been crying, her voice nowhere near as soft as usual. 

"I'm listening." she replied, sitting down on the sofa and gesturing Alana to do the same, which she cautiously allowed. 

"What I'm about to tell you breaches doctor/ patient confidentiality, so I need you to keep this to yourself. Do you promise?" the psychiatrist blurted, her eyes fixed on Margot's emphasising how serious this matter really was. 

"Yes, of course." Margot replied, a little hurt that Alana had to confirm whether or not she could trust her, but she pushed the feeling to the back of her mind. 

"After I left you I went to see my patient. She has always had problems with her Dad and he was a majority of the reasons that she came to me. The last time I had seen her was the day after we killed Mason and I had told her to do what she thought was best, even if it may cause disagreement with others." she explained, playing with the corners of the blanket. 

Margot nodded, urging her to go on. 

"Then I saw her again, a few days ago. Have I already said that? It doesn't matter. So I saw her and she was excessively happy, she explained how things were all getting better now, how she finally felt free, so, obviously, I asked her what had changed in her life to give her such joy." 

"Okay.." she shuffled slightly closer to the brunette, taking her shaking hands into her own and rubbing circles on the back of them with her thumbs. 

"Then she told me that she had abused her Father. He had ended up in hospital after she threw a handful of broken glass at him, one had just missed a vital blood vessel, the others had caused him damage to his face." Alana's voice was shaking, she was on the verge of tears. 

"Oh, Alana," Margot said, her voice full of sympathy, "It's not your fault, she just wasn't in a great state of mind."

"Exactly!" Alana exclaimed, "Yet she was fine the last time I saw her. She was slightly troubled, but she was dealing with things okay, then I killed Mason and it's like everything changed. What if I end up like Hannibal? What if I start driving people to kill eachother? What if my next patient shoots their Dad? If they are already in an unstable state of mind, surely, me, a murdering psychiatrist, will not be any help."

"Woah, woah, woah," Margot cut off Alana's sentence, her voice gentle, "You didn't tell her to attack her Father, you told her to do what she thought was best and if attacking her Father was, what she thought, the best way forward, then you didn't provoke her or lead her into it, she put herself in that position, not you, Lana, you did nothing wrong. You tried to help her." 

Alana's eyes remained fixed on the intertwined hands in front of her, until she slowly brought her head up, tears sliding down her cheeks. 

"Hey," the taller woman pulled the brunette onto her lap, pulling her close, stroking her hair, "I'm sorry for putting you into the situation where you have to think like this, I didn't want this to happen." 

"This isn't your fault, Margot," Alana whispered, her hot breath tickling the heiress' neck, "It's Mason's." 

"Whoever's fault it is, it's not yours." she hugged the psychiatrist tightly, placing a small kiss on the top of her head. 

"I love you." the brunette said, bringing one of her arms up to rest on Margot's shoulder. 

"I love you too," Margot replied, "I was starting to worry you didn't."

Alana brought her head up from Margot's neck, her face a sad frown as she looked at the woman's green eyes. 

"Why?" her voice sounded laced with shock. 

"It sounds silly," Margot began, shifting so that Alana could position herself comfortably, now sitting in a straddle, "It's just, after you said you loved me, you cleared off for a few days. I wasn't sure if you had changed your mind." her voice had become a mere mumble towards the end of her sentence, her cheeks flushing red as she heard how ridiculous she sounded. 

"I'm sorry, I should have called," the brunette cupped her Margot's face in her hands, staring deep into her eyes, "but I won't stop loving you, not for a long time." she closed the space between them, pressing her lips against the Verger daughter's with immense meaning and smiled as she returned the gesture, resting her hands on her hips and pulling her impossibly closer. 

"Good." Margot smiled as she pulled away from the kiss, leaving Alana to pout.

"Shhh." the psychiatrist hushed, pulling her back into the kiss. 

Just then, her phone rang. Alana groaned as she pulled the phone from her back pocket, checking who the caller ID was before letting her shoulders slouch. 

"Who is it?" Margot asked, drawing subconscious patterns on Alana's lower back. 

"Jack." the brunette grunted, about to click decline. 

"No, answer. He's lonely." The heiress urged, pushing the phone closer to Alana. 

The Doctor sighed, clicking the answer button and bringing the phone to her ear. 

"Hey, Jack," Alana began, sliding off of Margot's lap and slouching back on the sofa, "How have you been?" 

Margot sat patiently, stroking her brown locks as she continued to speak. 

"Yes, I've been great thanks," there was a moment of pause before she spoke again, "Really?" she sat forward, causing Miss Verger to become suddenly concerned.

"Bedelia had been Hannibal's psychiatrist for as long as I knew him. I was aware of the accident a few years ago but I didn't know any details to that extent." her usual sweet voice had become more urgent. 

"Well, yes, I suppose that does make sense. So where are you going from here?" Margot began to rub circles on Alana's back sensing her tension. 

Suddenly, the brunette let out a sigh of relief. 

"That's brilliant, yes," her shoulders relaxed, "yes, definitely, I'll be there. What time?" another pause, "Okay, I'll see you then. Bye Jack." she pressed the end call button and flopped back onto the sofa. 

"What was all that about?" Margot asked, leaning on her side slightly so she could see Alana's face. 

"It seems like I'm not the only psychiatrist holding dirty little secrets." she smiled, pulling the beauty closer to her. 

"Hmm?" Margot urged Alana to elaborate, pecking her on the lips before sitting up straight again. 

"Turns out Bedelia isn't as innocent as she first seemed," she shifted closer to the heiress, "A few years back, she was attacked by a patient, who had miraculously swallowed his own tongue." 

The horse-rider raised an eyebrow before speaking. 

"Seems pretty coincidental if you ask me." 

Alana laughed, swinging back onto Margot's lap, the same position she was in earlier. 

"That's because it apparently wasn't. She shoved his tongue down his throat because he was getting worked up. He was a previous patient of Hannibal." the psychiatrist explained, resting her arms around the woman's neck. 

"That explains it then." she smiled back. 

"So..." Alana said suggestively, smiling her sweet smile and using her gorgeous eyes to her advantage, "Jack has invited me and my 'significant other' to a meal with him and few of our work-mates, and I was wondering..." she traced her hands down Margot's jaw, kissing the path her finger had made so delicately. 

"When?" Margot laughed, allowing Alana to bribe her into this meal. 

"Tomorrow at two. I would pick you up and afterwards we could go back to mine." the brunette smiled mischievously as she started to undo Margot's blouse. 

"Or," she grabbed Alana's hands, earning a pout in protest, "We could go back to yours now, saving you a drive for the morning. Besides, I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow." 

The Doctor practically jumped out of Margot's lap and towards the door after she heard the offer, leaving her lover to button up her shirt again. 

"Slow down, I need clothes." she laughed, doing up her last button. 

"No," Alana whined, "No clothes. I like your clothes but I prefer you without them."

"I meant for tomorrow." Margot winked, disappearing upstairs to grab an armful of clothes from her wardrobe and made her way back down to the hallway, holding her charger in one hand, her clothes draped over her other arm and she slipped her phone into her back pocket along with her wallet and held her keys tightly in her hand. 

"Okay, I'm ready." 

Alana grinned, opening the door and practically running to the car like an excitable puppy, earning her another laugh from a slower-paced Margot. 

"Come on." she gestured towards the car, expecting the taller woman to speed up, but, of course, she didn't, causing Alana to huff slightly before slipping into her car.

"You're cute." Margot said as she slid into the seat next to her, throwing her clothes into the back seat. 

"Cute?" Alana asked, starting to pull off the driveway and towards the road. 

"I mean you're hot. Certainly beautiful- stunning even. But definitely cute." 

The brunette laughed, shaking her head at the rain of compliments Margot was showering her with. 

"I love you." she smiled. 

"I love you too." she smiled back, her green eyes fixed on Alana as she focused on driving. 

Despite the earlier conversations, Alana looked immensely happy. Margot had never been so in love with a human than she had been with this woman, and she seemed to notice it more and more with every blink, every breath, every movement that Alana made as she rested her hands on the steering wheel, driving them towards the house. 

She was snapped out of her thoughts by the sound of Alana's voice. 

"Fuck." Doctor Bloom muttered as they reached a red light, slapping her hands against the steering wheel. 

"You're so impatient." Margot laughed, diverting her eyes away from Alana to look at the clear roads ahead of her, knowing it would only be a few minutes until they reached the house. 

"It's your fault," Alana started, resting her hands back down gently on the steering wheel, "Your clothes are practically mocking me at this point." 

Margot raised an eyebrow, trying to hide how much she also wanted to take Alana right there and then. 

"Then keep your eyes on the road." she winked as the light turned green and they started to move again. 

"You wait until we get home." the psychiatrist muttered, pressing her lips together and accelerating slightly over the speed limit, much to Margot's amusement. 

When they eventually reached the house, Alana threw open her car door, managing to unlock the house before Margot had even stepped out of the car. 

"You won't be needing them," The brunette husked as Margot reached for her clothes in the backseat, "Not yet." 

As soon as her lover had closed the car door behind her, about to say something in protest, Alana connected their lips in a hungry kiss, her hands tangling in Margot's hair and guiding her slowly towards the doorway, kicking it open with her foot and closing it behind them again, pushing Margot against it, making sure not to hurt her. 

"I fucking hate clothes." she grunted, unbuttoning Margot's blouse as she had done earlier, not wasting any time. 

"I can see that." the heiress laughed, knowing that, at this moment, nothing could be any better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was a bit heavy on the dialogue, apologies for that  
> I hope you're enjoying it:)


	15. Ouvrir

A brushing kiss was the perfect way for Alana to wake up that morning and as soon as she was able to comprehend what was happening, she happily returned it, smiling through their movements. 

"Morning, you." Margot smiled, stroking the brunette's hair out of her face. 

"Morning, beautiful," she sleepily smiled back, propping herself up onto her elbows, "what time is it?"

"Ten." her lover replied, after glancing at her phone. 

"Ugh, I need to shower and walk Applesauce." the psychiatrist grunted and slipped out of bed. 

"I'll join you." Margot said, also getting up from the bed, both of them just in their underwear, clothes not being on their agendas last night, especially once they had made it up to the bedroom. 

"In the shower? Or for the walk?" Alana smirked, wandering towards the bathroom.

"Both seem good to me." she smiled mischievously back, following her into the bathroom, Applesauce jolted her head up as she noticed the door open, but after realising it was just Margot, she settled back down again, burying her head into the duvet. 

The brunette flicked on the shower and stripped out of her clothes, running her fingers through her hair before she put her hand under the water, letting warm droplets trickle off her palm, splashing delicately onto the shower base as she turned back to Margot. 

"Wash my hair." Alana requested, stepping into the stream of water and watched as the heiress too stripped off her clothes and joined her in the shower, her hair still messy from last night. 

After they had both been soaked by the warm water that was pouring down on them, Alana passed Margot the shampoo, stepping slightly out of the waterfall and tilting her head back as Margot massaged her scalp, bubbles escaping down past her shoulders and tracing her spinal column, wavering when they reached a scar and then carried on again. The psychiatrist washed out the bubbles and conditioned her hair whilst Margot did the same, thankful that Alana's shower was big enough for two of them.

"So are we telling them today?" Margot asked, wrapping her arms around the brunette's waist. 

"Hmm?" Alana really had no idea what the other woman was talking about and instead was more focused on the deep kisses Margot was leaving on her shoulders and collarbone, sucking slightly on the skin and leaving marks as she quickly soothed the area with her tongue. 

"Jack and your workmates about us two." Margot explained before pecking her gently on the lips, water dripping off her nose which Alana quickly kissed away. 

"If you're comfortable with that, definitely." she grinned, pulling the taller woman down into a loving kiss. 

"I'm comfortable," Margot smiled back, leaning over to switch off the shower, "Telling people you're my girlfriend will certainly not be something that makes me uncomfortable."

"Just checking." Alana stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around her, passing another to Margot. 

**

"Applesauce! You can't just ignore the ball when I throw it." Alana huffed, pointing in the direction she had thrown the ball. 

Margot giggled from behind her, Applesauce had made it extremely apparent that she wasn't a morning dog, slowly tracing behind the two women as they walked further into the field, occasionally stopping and refusing to move for the sake of being stubborn. 

The brunette shook her head and wandered off to where she had thrown the ball, the heiress' eyes following her figure as she was followed by a very tired Applesauce. As she bent down to pick up the ball, Margot caught a glance of a slight wince, moving onto Alana moving much slower than she had done before, but still plastering a small smile on her face. 

"What's hurting?" Margot asked, approaching her. 

"What are you talking about?" The psychiatrist tried to use the innocence act, but the Verger daughter had cupped her face in her hands, forcing her to look deep into the sea of green eyes. 

"You know exactly what I'm talking about," she began, stroking Alana's cheek with her thumb, "Is it your hips?" 

"I'm fine." Alana smiled adamantly, slowly removing herself from Margot's touch and clipping Applesauce on her lead, continuing to walk away, but looking behind her to make sure her girlfriend was following shortly behind. 

"You're not fine." Margot said, jogging to catch up before enlacing her hand with Alana's free one. She said nothing, just shot her look with her beautiful blue eyes, silently asking for her to stop the conversation. 

"Please, Alana, if you're hurting then use your cane." she said after a while. 

"Margot," the shorter woman sighed, turning to look at her, "I intend to never use that cane again. I have a genuine hatred towards it." 

"Fine." Margot sighed as they reached the house. 

"We need to get ready for the meal, the restaurant is an hour away." Alana said simply, stepping into the house and unhooking the dog, walking up the stairs. 

The taller woman reluctantly followed her, it were as though Alana was her magnet, she had an impossible urge to stay with her wherever she went. 

She watched as she started to change, slipping out of her jeans and instead pulling on some trousers and a white blouse that was extremely low cut, earning her an eyebrow raise from Margot, she then slipped on a black blazer and walked into the bathroom to pin up her hair. Margot, on the other hand, opted for a dress, knowing that she had to make a pretty good impression if she was meeting Alana's friends for the first time. Properly. 

She had met Jack before, although I wouldn't say it was exactly a pleasant meeting. She had been referred to Doctor Lecter after trying to kill her brother and at this point Crawford didn't know the story behind why Margot would ever do such a thing and simply but her down as another psychopath, so this time she had to make herself at least seem stable and she knew that the best chance she had to get that point across was going to be through her choice of clothing. If Hannibal had taught her anything, it was that first impressions most certainly did count. 

"Oh no you don't," she warned as Alana picked up her heels, ready to slip on, "Your hips already hurt." 

"Margot." Alana whined, adding a pout at the end, a small curl escaping from her pinned hair.

"No, Alana, it's not good for you and you know it." She took the heels from her girlfriend's hand and stroked away the curl, pecking her on her pouted lips. 

"How about," Alana began in a tone implying she had a suggestion, "I wear the heels but take the cane. As long as when we see Jack I don't have to use it, I've told him I'm improving I don't want him to think I was lying to him." 

Margot thought about it for a moment before handing the brunette her heels. 

"On one condition," she kept hold of the heels despite them being in Alana's grasp, "You can't leave me at any point in the day with Jack and your friends. I'm worried they'll attack me or something."

The Doctor giggled, nodding gently as Margot let go of the shoes, slipping them onto her feet.

"Of course." she smiled. 

"Good, now zip me up." she spun around, waiting for Alana to do her dress up. 

"You know," the psychiatrist said, her breath causing Margot's skin to raise in it's wake, "I would much rather take it off." she whispered, pulling the zip up at an agonizingly slow pace, placing a gentle kiss on her girlfriend's neck, brushing her hair out of the way before she placed another. 

"'Lana." Margot whimpered. 

"What?" Alana smiled, ignoring the knowledge of what her lips on the woman's neck was doing to her. 

"We need to go." she replied, yet she still tilted her head to the side, giving her more room to work with. 

"Hmm." the brunette said in agreement, wiping off a smudge of lipstick from Margot's neck, sending shivers down her partner's spine, and then brushing her hair back into the style it was before and taking her cane, phone and purse before sliding her hand around Margot's waist and leading her out of the room. 

"What if they hate me?" the horse-rider asked, a rush of colour painting her cheeks when she realised how silly she had just sounded. 

"They'll love you," Alana smiled, turning to face Margot and pulling her into a deepened kiss, "I love you." 

"I love you too." she grinned, handing Alana her keys and slipping her phone into her small bag along with her wallet. 

"I promise, it's going to be fine." she squeezed her hand before stepping out of the house. 

**

"It really doesn't surprise me." Margot laughed. 

They had been at the meal for an hour now and they had all been getting along well. Jimmy had been sharing his mass amount of stories about Alana, much to the brunette's dismay, but Margot appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the reminiscing session that they were having. 

He had just finished telling Margot a story about the time when he had warned Alana it was going to rain, but, as her stubborn self, she decided to venture out anyway. Halfway to her destination she realised she had made a mistake but refused to go back and be defeated, so she carried on going. Two hours later she returned soaked and ended up getting ill. 

"Hey, come on," Alana exclaimed jokingly, nudging her partner, "I'm not that stubborn anymore." 

Margot raised an eyebrow. 

" 'I don't need any help' is a phrase I hear you say daily, 'Lana." she replied. 

"That's just because I'm independent. I'm not stubborn." she stuck her tongue out. 

Jack laughed at the commotion from across the table, knowing that both women were certainly suited for eachother. He was more than happy knowing that his friend would be looked after well by the Verger heiress, their past meeting had been thrown out of the window as soon as he saw the way she treated Alana today. She genuinely cared about her. She looked at her in the same way that somebody would look at an immense piece of artwork and the brunette would often do the same to her. It was nice to see Alana finally in love. He had seen the looks she had given Hannibal and although they were full of affection, they weren't filled with love. Curiosity seemed to power the Doctor's mind when she was with Hannibal, which most probably had an impact on her relationship with him. Will had been somebody Alana just wanted to take care of, her compassion fuelled anything that she felt towards him, maybe it was pity, maybe it was fear, but it was clear that she had only ever been truly in love with Margot Verger. 

"You are stubborn, Bloom." Jack chirped in, agreeing with Margot. 

"Thankyou," she nodded in approval towards Jack, "See? Everybody agrees." 

"I think I would prefer it if they hated you." Alana joked, whispering in Margot's ear when nobody was looking. 

The heiress elbowed her gently and smiled, she was glad that the brunette was right, her friends did appear to like her. 

Even at school Margot had struggled to be liked. It was not entirely her fault, having Mason as a brother often warned people off, whether she was stood beside him or in a different place at a different time, her peers were aware of his constant presence. Mason knew everything. 

"Well, I'm glad we got to meet you Margot." Jack stated, a smile planted on his face, genuinely happy that she was the one Alana had chosen. 

All of Doctor Bloom's workmates agreed, nodding and chinking their glasses, smiling towards Margot, causing her to look down. Alana took her hand in her own under the table, squeezing it lovingly, proud of the impression she had made on her friends, which she knew were hard to impress. 

"I'm glad to have met you too." Margot smiled back. 

As the table delved themselves into conversation, the Verger daughter turned to Alana. 

"And I'm extremely glad to have met you." she placed a small kiss on her lips, not caring who saw. 

She was just so happy to be there. With Doctor Alana Bloom, the love of her life.


End file.
